Nithari Murder Case

The 2006 Noida serial murder investigation began during December 2006 when the skulls and bones of a number of missing children were discovered in the village of Nithari on the outskirts of Noida City, a planned industrial township in Uttar Pradesh near New Delhi. A rich and politically connected Punjabi businessman, Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant and aide Surender Koli had been apprehended on the suspicion of murder of a call girl by the Delhi Police on December 26, 2006. A case has been registered against the two under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rape, murder, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy.

Events before the primary investigation

The anxious and worried parents of the children who had gone missing in the last two years rushed to the Nithari village as word spread that the skeletal remains of eight children had been found in a sewer behind the house of a factory owner. Surender alias Satish later confessed killing six children and the 20 year-old Payal after having sexually assaulted them.

The residents alleged that the police were corrupt and involved with the rich people. Demands were made for an independent probe into the matter. One of the residents even claimed that the police were claiming credit for discovering the bodies when it was the residents who dug them up. They also put forward a possibility of an organ trade scandal. The police denied having found fifteen bodies. They reiterated that they had discovered skulls, bones and other body parts and said that they were unable to give a figure for the number of victims. The victims' identities and number could only be established with DNA tests. The police then sealed the house and did not allow mediapersons anywhere near the scene of crime.

The Central government tried to ascertain the facts behind the discovery of the skeletal remains of children and whether it had "inter-state ramifications. Law and order is a state's subject but the Home ministry asked for details about the magnitude of the crime.

It was later revealed by the media that the prime accused in this case, Moninder Singh had been picked up by the police on December 26 and his aide on December 27 in connection with the disappearance of a prostitute named Payal. And it was after Surinder confessed, the police claimed to have started digging up the nearby land area and discovered the children's bodies.

Two policemen were suspended on December 31, 2006 in connection with the serial murders of children in Noida as angry residents charged the house of the alleged mastermind. The policemen were suspended for dereliction of duty in the wake of the allegations by the locals that the cops had refused to take any action when they were informed about a number of children missing in this industrial township.

The situation at Nithari got aggravated as an irate mob of villagers fought pitched battles with the police, both pelting stones at each other, just outside the residence of the accused. The police also detained a maid named Maya whom they suspected had a hand in procuring women for the businessman. As more body parts were dug out from near the premises of the house, hundreds of local residents descended on the spot and alleged that there was an organ trade angle to the grisly killings of young children. A doctor living close to the Pandher residence, Navin Choudhary had been under police suspicion a few years ago in connection with an alleged kidney racket at his hospital. Searches were conducted throughout the properties owned by him and the investigators could not derive any information to support the claims of the public.

The police investigation

On January 1, 2007 – the police remand of the two accused was extended till January 10, 2007. The remand magistrate granted the police custody of the two accused for ten more days as the investigators said that further interrogation was required to complete the recovery of the human remains of the victims. The court also granted the permission for the narco analysis. On the same evening, the police conducted a raid over the Chandigarh residence of Moninder Singh. His wife and son were interrogated and questions were asked about Moninder's habits. Police sources disclosed that their relationship with him was "strained" but his behaviour was "normal". A senior police inspector revealed that there would be a series of searches conducted at Pandher's Ludhiana farmhouse and nearby places. The recent child kidnapping cases in Chandigarh – the accused's hometown – were re-opened.

It was on the next day that 15 of the 17 skeletons discovered in the village were identified. Ten of them were identified by the servant, Surinder Koli, when he was confronted with the photographs of the missing children of the village. Five other were identified by the family members of the victims after being shown some of the belongings of the children which were recovered from the scene of crime. The torsos of the bodies were missing and the investigating team was looking into possibilities of the motivation of the killings to be that of organ trade. The police said that there were at least 31 children who had been victims. Security was beefed up as police expected more disturbance, following two days of violence near the residence of the accused. The Chief Justice of India, Justice K. G. Balakrishnan while releasing a press statement asserted that the investigation was at a preliminary level and the courts or the Central Bureau of Investigation had no role to play at this stage.


The inquiry committee report

The Central Government, however, constituted a high-level inquiry committee to go into the police lapses, during the period of reporting and investigation. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav said that he would await the report of the committee looking into the issue before taking the decision whether there should be a CBI probe into the matter. The committee is headed by the Joint Secretary, Women and Child Development Ministry, Manjula Krishnan. Under the terms of the reference,

This committee would take stock of the efforts made by the Noida police in locating the children who went missing.
It would assess the level of cooperation and assistance provided by the local administration, to locate the missing children and unite them with their families.
It would go through the modus operandi and the motives of the accused.
The panel met the parents of the of the victims to record their statements even as the police determined that out of the 17 confirmed people killed, 10 were girls. Parents of eight of the sexually abused children were given compensation of Rs. 12 lakh. The DNA samples from the human remains were sent to forensic laboratory in Hyderabad for the identification of the victims while forensic samples were sent to the laboratory in Agra for determining the age, cause of death and other details. It was determined that Payal was the only victim identified as adult in this case, with all other 11 victims below the age of 10. Seven of the eight families that had been provided compensation of Rs. 2 lakh on January 3, 2007 returned their cheques in protest. However, the cheques were soon returned back to them. They demanded houses and jobs in compensation.

After reeling under a lot of relentless pressure and public outcry, the Uttar Pradesh Government suspended two superintendents of police and dismissed six policemen for dereliction of duty. This action followed the report by the four-member committee. On January 17, 2007 the inquiry committee submitted its reports severely indicting the Uttar Pradesh police for "gross negligence" in handling the cases of missing persons. The committee said that the local administration was negligent and irresponsible while dealing with the missing persons reports and did not rule out organ trade as a possible motive behind the killings.

The call girl angle

The two accused in the case were already in police custody while the skeletal remains of the young children were being unearthed at the Pandher residence. An FIR had been filed on October 7, 2006. Investigations revealed that Payal's cellphone was being used although the SIM card she owned remained inactive. Through digital surveillance, the investigators were able to track down a number of people and could finally reached the man who sold the phone. The rickshaw cart puller affirmed that the phone belonged to someone from the Pandher residence. After the affirmation of the facts by the witness, Moninder Singh was called for interrogation, which subsequently revealed nothing. His aide and servant, Surender Koli was picked up the next day and he confessed killing the woman and dumping her body behind the house. The police started digging and henceforth recovered the skeletal remains of the missing children.

Nand Lal, the father of the girl – Deepika alias Payal, alleged that the police had threatened and harassed him. He stated that it was because of the court intervention that the police officers registered the First Information Report. Nand Lal said that he was accused of being a blackmailer and his daughter was called a woman of easy virtue.


Suspicions of child pornography racket

The investigating teams seized erotic literature along with a laptop computer connected to a webcam, which immediately raised the apprehensions of the presence of an international child pornography racket. The police also recovered some photographs of Pandher with nude children and foreigners, during his four international visits. It was apprehended that Pandher supplied such pictures abroad and could link him to paedophilia.


Suspicions of organ trade and cannibalism

The police initially suspected an organ trade angle as to the motive behind the murders and raided the house of a doctor who lived in the neighbourhood of the prime accused. A team of officials was accompanied by a team of forensic experts to pick up probable evidence for tests. The police revealed that the doctor had been accused of similar crime in the year 1998, although the court had later absolved him in the same year. This was a second raid in a few days. The police was however, cautious with the news reports indicting the accused of cannibalism even before the polygraph tests had barely begun. They were left aghast when they learned that one of the accused had even confessed to the consumption of the victims' livers and other body parts. Such a possibility was, however, not completely ruled out by the investigating team, considering the amount of brutality the duo had allegedly committed on the victims.


Brain mapping and narco analysis

The accused duo were brought to the Directorate of Forensic Sciences, Gandhinagar city for undergoing a series of medical tests. Brain mapping and polygraph tests were conducted on January 4, 2007 and narco analysis five days later. The police director told the scribes that both the accused had been cooperative during the tests and examinations. The directorate officials did not make any revelations to the public media.

A senior director of the institute announced the conclusion of the extensive tests and declared that no conclusion had been drawn. The police sources said that during the first day of the tests, Moninder Singh revealed a number of his high-profile connections with the ministers and others who frequented his residence in Noida.


The CBI investigation

After four days of discourse and mounting pressure from the Centre, the Uttar Pradesh government decided to hand over the inquiry to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The notification came after the Department of Personnel and Training, which governs the CBI sent a letter to the state government about making a proper request for a probe by the agency in line with the prescribed norms.

The two accused were taken away to an undisclosed location on the night of January 11, 2007, a day before the investigation was to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI continued its investigation and discovered three more skulls and human remains at the site of the serial killings. The investigators searched the drains and found three skulls, believed to be of the children and several body parts, including parts of legs, bones and torso. Several objects were found that are believed to belong to the victims. The exhibits were sealed and forwarded to forensic labs.

The Central enquiry committee that investigated the serial killings discovered serious lapses on the part of the police in handling the cases of missing persons. The published report was provided to the CBI to aid the agency in its probe. The reports were incriminating and proclaimed that the local police failed in their duty to admit their complaints over the past two years.

The discovery of several gunny bags containing parts of human torsos led the investigators to believe that it was unlikely that the accused had links to illegal organ trade. The CBI team discovered the bags in the drains outside the Pandher residence. After interrogating Surinder Koli, they came to a prima facie conclusion that "he is a psychopath who used to carry out the killings". Interrogators also said that it was possible that Pandher had no role to play in the murders.[34] The seized materials were sent to laboratory for post-mortem, individualisation and DNA extraction. The materials received from the Uttar Pradesh police were also forwarded for forensic examination. Some liquor bottles, a double-barrel gun, cartridges, mobile phones, photographs, photo albums and a blood-stained grill were handed over to the CBI for extensive examination. Preliminary investigations revealed that the bones were not more than two years old. The CBI also revealed that only fifteen skulls had been found thus far, and not seventeen as claimed by the state police.

A three-member CBI team questioned the kin members of Surendra Koli in the Almora district.

In November 2007, the Supreme Court issued notice to CBI in case on the allegation by a relative of the victim that the investigating agency was trying to shield Moninder Singh Pandher, one of the key accused in the case.


The victims

The call girl was the only adult victim in the string of serial murders. Young girls constituted the majority of victims. Post mortem reports of the 17 sets of skulls and bones recovered showed that 11 of the killed were girls. The top doctors of the Noida Government Hospital revealed that there was a "butcher-like precision" in the chopping of the bodies. The post mortem reports revealed that there had been a pattern in the killings. A gory revelation was made by the AIIMS on February 06, 2007. It was also concluded that there were 19 skulls in all, 16 complete and 3 damaged. The bodies had been cut into three pieces before being disposed off by the servant Surender Koli. The CBI sources said that the manservant, after strangulating the victims, used to sever their head and throw it in the drain behind the house of his employer. Sources also revealed that he used to keep the viscera in a polythene bag before disposing it off in a drain, so as to prevent detection. The skulls and the other bio-material remains were forwarded to the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad for further profiling.