Haridwar, September 18, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Surendra Koli, who was accused in the 2006 Nithari killings case and was acquitted by the Supreme Court in his last remaining case, was found dead at a tea stall in Haridwar on Friday, with police suspecting suicide.
Koli’s body was found hanging inside the stall opposite Lal Mata Temple on Sapt Sarovar Road in the Bhupatwala area of north Haridwar.
According to police, Koli had been living in Haridwar for the past few months and had recently started operating the tea stall. A team from the Saptarishi police outpost reached the spot after receiving information, took custody of the body and began an investigation.
Police said Koli was a resident of Mangrukhal village in the Bhikiasain area of Uttarakhand’s Almora district. His family has been informed.
The circumstances surrounding his death are being investigated, and police have not disclosed any motive. A preliminary inquiry indicated suicide, while further investigation and forensic procedures are underway.
Koli had spent years in prison in connection with the Nithari killings, which came to light in 2006 after human remains were discovered near the house of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher in Noida’s Sector 31.
Koli, who worked as Pandher’s domestic help, and Pandher were initially accused in multiple cases involving the disappearance and killing of children and young women in the Nithari area.
The prosecution case eventually resulted in 19 cases being registered against the two accused. The CBI filed closure reports in three cases citing insufficient evidence.
Koli was convicted in several cases and had received death sentences, but a series of subsequent acquittals significantly altered the legal status of the cases against him.
In November 2025, the Supreme Court allowed Koli’s curative petition in the last remaining case against him and set aside his conviction. The court held that the conviction rested on an evidentiary foundation that had been rejected in companion cases and concluded that the prosecution had failed to establish guilt in accordance with the required legal standard.
The Supreme Court noted that the crimes associated with the Nithari case were heinous and that the suffering of the victims’ families was immense, but emphasised that criminal conviction must rest on admissible and reliable evidence rather than conjecture or suspicion.
The Nithari case had generated widespread public attention following the discovery of human remains in a drain near Pandher’s residence, which became widely known as the “House of Horrors”. The investigation involved allegations of abduction, sexual assault and murder, and was followed by prolonged trials and extensive scrutiny of the investigation.
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