Nithari convict Koli taken to Meerut jail

Surender Koli, convicted in the Nithari killings, was Thursday transferred to the Meerut jail, after the CBI court issued a death warrant following the rejection of his mercy petition by the president.

Officials said Koli could be hanged within the next 3-5 days.

Koli was taken in a police van from the Dasna jail to the Meerut jail around 6.30 p.m., a jail official said.

Earlier, the local Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court issued a death warrant to Koli after his mercy petition was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Koli was shifted to Meerut because of the absence of hanging facilities in the Dasna jail.

The trial court had sentenced both Koli and Maninder Singh Pandher to death, but the Allahabad High Court later acquitted Pandher.

Koli's sentence was upheld by the high court and then by the Supreme Court.

Koli filed a mercy petition before the president which was turned down.

Millions across India and abroad were horrified when Noida police in December 2006 found the remains of 19 young women and children from a drain next to Pandher's bungalow in Noida. Koli and Pandher were arrested thereafter.