Haridwar: Surendra Koli, who was accused in the 2005-06 Nithari killings cases, was found dead inside a tea stall in Haridwar on Friday, police said.
Koli's death comes less than a year after the Supreme Court acquitted him in the last remaining criminal case connected with the Nithari killings, bringing to an end the legal proceedings against him in those cases, reported PTI.
Police said his body was found at a tea stall in the Bhupatwala area of Haridwar. The circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation. The Indian Express reported that police said the death appeared to be a suicide, but that the final cause would be established after forensic and post-mortem examinations.
From the Nithari case to acquittal
Koli was a domestic worker at the Noida residence of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher when the Nithari case came to light in December 2006.
The discovery of skeletal remains, including those of children, in a drain and area behind Pandher's house in Sector 31, Noida, led to a major criminal investigation and widespread public outrage. The Indian Express reported that the remains of eight children were initially discovered behind Pandher's house.
Koli was subsequently convicted in multiple cases and received several death sentences.
That legal history changed significantly in 2023, when the Allahabad High Court acquitted Koli and Pandher in 12 cases connected with the killings. The court set aside the convictions and death sentences in those cases.
One case, involving the killing of a teenage girl, remained pending against Koli.
In November 2025, the Supreme Court allowed Koli's curative petition in that final case and acquitted him. The court directed that he be released unless he was required in another case or proceeding. The Supreme Court judgment, as reported by SCC Online, said Koli's conviction could not be sustained on the evidence available and formally acquitted him in the 13th prosecution connected with the Nithari killings.
What the Supreme Court had found
The 2025 ruling was significant because it brought the final surviving conviction against Koli to an end.
The Supreme Court questioned the evidentiary basis for maintaining the conviction in the one remaining case when the same broad evidentiary framework had not sustained convictions in the 12 other cases. The Indian Express reported that the court identified gaps involving the chain of custody, forensic evidence, recoveries and the recording of Koli's statement.
The acquittal meant that Koli was no longer legally convicted in any of the Nithari killings cases.
His death in Haridwar now comes after that final acquittal.
Pandher was also acquitted
Moninder Singh Pandher, the owner of the Noida house where Koli worked, was also a co-accused in the Nithari proceedings.
The Allahabad High Court acquitted Pandher in the cases before it in 2023. He had spent years in jail before his release following the acquittal.
The Nithari case had therefore undergone a major legal reversal over the years: convictions and death sentences that had once dominated the proceedings were subsequently overturned in the courts.
(Inputs from PTI | The Indian Express | Supreme Court judgment / SCC Online | Allahabad High Court judgment)
