'Rapes, murders & cannibalism': A timeline of Nithari serial killings

The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted Surendra Koli in 12 cases and Moninder Singh Pandher in two cases

The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted the prime accused in Nithari killings, Surinder Koli, in 12 cases in which a trial court handed him death penalty.

Moninder Singh Pandher, the co-accused in the case, has also been acquitted in two cases.

Officials said Surinder Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher, who were awarded death sentences on the charges of rape and murder, have been acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The death sentences of both Koli and Pandher stand cancelled after the big high court verdict.

Here's a complete timeline of the gruesome case that rocked the nation:

December 29, 2006

Fifteen human skulls, skeletal remains and fragments of clothes stuffed in gunny bags were found in a drain behind bungalow number D-5 in Noida’s Sector 31, adjacent to Nithari village.

Noida police arrested bungalow owner Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surender Koli on charges of rape and murder.

December 30, 2006

More skeletons were found. Five policemen were suspended for mishandling the investigation as some parents alleged that they had complained almost two years ago that their children had gone missing.

After the initial investigation in cases by the Uttar Pradesh police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the investigation on January 11, 2007 and filed 16 charge sheets. Koli was charge sheeted in all the cases for murder besides other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Pandher was charged in only a single case under the provisions of the Immoral Trafficking Act. He was later summoned as co-accused in five more cases by the trial court.

February 13, 2009

Koli and Pandher were awarded death penalty in first Nithari case at Ghaziabad. Pandher was later acquitted of all charges by the Allahabad High Court. Koli’s sentence commuted to life imprisonment in January, 2015.

May 12, 2010

Koli was awarded death penalty in second case related to abduction, rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl.

September 28, 2010

Koli was awarded death penalty in third case of nine-year-old girl.

December 22, 2010

Koli was awarded death penalty in fourth case involving a 12-year-old girl.

December 24, 2012

Koli was awarded death penalty in fifth case related to five-year-old girl.

October 7, 2016

Koli was awarded death penalty in sixth case related to a 25-year-old domestic help.

December 16, 2016

Koli was awarded death penalty in the seventh Nithari case, related to 12-year-old girl

July 22, 2017

Both Koli and Pandher were awarded death penalties in the eighth case related to 20-year-old Pinky Sarkar.

December 8, 2017

Both Pandher and Koli were awarded death penalties in the ninth case related to the murder of 25- year-old domestic help.

March 2, 2019

Koli was awarded death penalty in the 10th Nithari case related to the murder of another girl who was 14.

April 6, 2019

Koli was awarded the death penalty for the murder of a 10-year-old in Nithari, the 11th case. Pandher, on the other hand, was summoned as co-accused but was let off as no evidence was found against him .

January 16, 2021

Koli was awarded another death penalty in th 12th Nithari case related to the murder of 20-year-old domestic help. Meanwhile, Pandher was acquitted.

March 26, 2021

Koli was acquitted by a Ghaziabad court in the 13th case in which he was charged with the destruction of evidence, abduction, attempted rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl. The was the first case in which Koli was acquitted while in previous 12 cases he was awarded death penalty by the trial court in Ghaziabad.