Pandher, Koli get death penalty for rape and murder
Crime among rarest of rare, says court
GHAZIABAD: A CBI court awarded the death sentence to Moninder Singh Pandher and his aide, Surinder Koli, on Monday in one of the 16 cases of the macabre Nithari serial killings in 2005 and 2006.
The duo was arrested on December 29, 2006, after the discovery of bones and skulls from the backyard of Pandher’s Sector 31 home in Noida’s Nithari. Police found the mortal remains during investigation when children and young women disappeared mysteriously in the area.
The Nithari horror, in which victims were raped, killed and the corpses cannibalised, stirred the nation’s collective conscience.
The verdict of the CBI court in Ghaziabad is significant as Pandher was earlier let off by the Allahabad high court in 2009 as his cell phone location was traced to Australia when the killings happened.
The defence had successfully argued he was not involved in the crime as he was abroad.
But this time, the CBI found that he was in Noida’s Sector 2 till about 1.30pm on October 5, 2006, and then left for Dehradun. That day Koli lured Pinky Sarkar, a 20-year-old domestic help, to Pandher’s home.
The charge sheet says Pinky worked at a house in Sector 30, where she watched television from 1pm. She left afterwards and disappeared. Her clothes were found at Pandher’s backyard.
The location and time were crucial to nail Pandher as investigators said he was in Noida when Pinky vanished. He returned to Noida on October 14.
CBI special judge Pawan Kumar Tiwari said Pandher was part of the conspiracy.
“There is no scope for their reform or rehabilitation. This case falls under the category of rarest of rare and both deserve death penalty,” he said pronouncing the judgment.
GHAZIABAD: Nearly 11 years after businessman Moninder Singh Pandher was arrested for alleged serial killings in Noida, families of the victims said they remain apprehensive if justice will be delivered to them.
The kin of victims, who were allegedly raped and murdered, raised concerns that Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli might walk out free. They also pointed out that neither accused has been hanged years after being awarded death sentence.
On Monday, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ghaziabad awarded death penalty to Koli and Pandher, while hearing the eighth out of 16 cases related to the serial killings.
The eighth case pertained to the murder of Pinky Sarkar, one of the victims. CBI special judge Pawan Tiwari awarded death penalty to the duo on charges of attempted rape, murder and destruction of proof in the case.
The families of several victims said they have apprehensions that the businessman would go scot-free, even though he was awarded death penalty.
While Koli was booked in all the 16 cases, Pandher was named only in two — the first case related to murder of Rimpa Haldar and the eighth involving the death of Pinky Sarkar.
When Haldar case was decided in February 2009, both the businessman and the help were awarded death.
However, the Allahabad High Court later acquitted Pandher in the case, while it upheld Koli’s sentence.
“It has been 11 years since we have been waiting to see the accused hanged. The businessman came clear in the first case and also got released from jail on bail. There have been death penalties awarded in the cases (decided so far), but the punishment is not executed yet. We still feel that the high and mighty will again walk free,” said Pinky’s mother Bandana Sarkar.
Monday’s verdict found Pandher guilty of ‘criminal conspiracy’. He was not chargesheeted by the CBI in any of the 16 cases, except one, under the provisions of the Immoral Trafficking Act.
“It emerged during investigation that Pandher was in Dehradun on the day Sarkar was murdered. Now, Pandher has the option to move High Court. He can further move Supreme Court,” said JP Sharma, special public prosecutor, CBI.
The CBI probe revealed that Pandher was in his office in Sector 2 till 1.30pm on October 5, 2006, the day Sarkar went missing. Thereafter, he left for Dehradun in a Scorpio car with his driver Pan Singh behind the wheel.
The families of Nithari victims said they remain apprehensive, primarily about Pandher.
“The families have lost faith after years of legal battle,” said Karanveer, father of Madhu, a victim.
Meanwhile, Pandher’s son Karan said, “We will now move High Court and have full faith in the justice system. My father has not been keeping well as he is again in jail. We will seek justice before the High Court now.”
Koli, on the other hand, received death penalty in all the eight out of 16 cases decided so far.