Nithari case: Moninder Pandher walks out of jail

Noida, October 20

Nithari serial killings accused Moninder Singh Pandher walked out of Luksar jail in Greater Noida on Friday, three days after he was acquitted in the case.

The 65-year-old businessman got into a car and drove off without speaking to anyone.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted him and his domestic help Surendra Koli in the sensational 2006 case after noting that the prosecution had failed to prove guilt “beyond reasonable doubt” and that the investigation was “botched up”.

“Today we have received the second court order (related to Pandher’s release) from the court. He will be released after due formalities by afternoon,” Luksar Jail Superintendent Arun Pratap Singh had told PTI earlier in the day.

Koli, the key accused, continues to be behind bars in Ghaziabad’s Dasna jail. He will serve the life imprisonment awarded to him in the killing of a 14-year-old girl.

The two were charged with rape and murder and sentenced to death in the killings in Nithari, Noida, that horrified the nation with the details on sexual assault, brutal murder and hints of possible cannibalism.