Nithari killings accused: Moninder Singh Pandher (L) and Surinder Koli. (Express File Photo)The main accused in the Nithari killings, Surinder Koli, was awarded the death penalty by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad. The court announced the death sentence in connection with murder charges against the accused.
The judge also awarded seven years’ imprisonment to his employer Moninder Singh Pandher in the case, besides a fine of Rs 62,000 on Koli and Rs 4,000 on Pandher, officials said.
The sensational killings came to light after the Noida police found human remains in a drain behind the accused’s house sixteen years ago. Accused Koli and Pandher are currently incarcerated for rape and murder of multiple persons.
The CBI has filed a charge sheet in 16 cases since it took over the investigation, officers said. While Koli was held guilty of murder, rape, conspiracy and destroying proof of crime, Pandher was accused of immoral trafficking. Koli was handed death sentences in more than 10 cases earlier. Pandher too was sentenced to death in three cases.
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The two were arrested on December 29, 2006, after the police recovered skeletons and other belongings of missing girls from the drain outside their house D-5 in Nithari. Koli had allegedly killed several girls, chopping their bodies to pieces before throwing them in the backyard outside their house.
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