Nithari killings case: Surendra Koli found hanging months after final acquittal

Surendra Koli, the former domestic worker whose name became synonymous with the 2006 Nithari killings, was found hanging at his tea stall in Haridwar on September 18, months after the Supreme Court acquitted him in the last case against him.

Police said Koli had been living in Haridwar for some time and was running the tea stall on rent on Sapt Sarovar Road.

Vikram Bisht, sub-inspector at Haridwar Kotwali police station, said the Saptarishi police outpost was informed on Friday morning that a man had been found hanging inside a tea shop.

The deceased was identified as Koli, a resident of Mangrukhal in Almora.

City circle officer Shishupal Singh Negi said a forensic team had examined the spot and that the initial assessment suggested suicide. The body has been taken into police custody and proceedings for the panchanama and post-mortem examination are underway.

Koli was working as a domestic help at the Noida home of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher when the Nithari killings came to light in December 2006. Human remains, including skulls and bones, were recovered from drains and an area near Pandher's house in Sector 31, exposing the disappearance and killings of several children and young women. The case triggered nationwide outrage.

Koli and Pandher were arrested and prosecuted in multiple cases arising from the killings. Koli was convicted in several cases and spent nearly two decades in prison, with some convictions carrying the death penalty.

But the long-running legal case eventually took a dramatic turn.

The Allahabad High Court acquitted Koli in 12 cases in 2023, citing shortcomings in the evidence. In July 2025, the Supreme Court upheld those acquittals after dismissing appeals filed by the CBI and victims' families.

One case remained. Koli's conviction in the rape and murder of 15-year-old Rimpa Haldar had earlier been upheld by the Supreme Court and his death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

In November 2025, the Supreme Court allowed Koli's curative petition and overturned that conviction as well, directing his release if he was not required in any other case. The court held that suspicion, however grave, could not substitute proof beyond reasonable doubt and said the identity of the actual perpetrator had not been established to the required legal standard.

With that ruling, Koli had been acquitted in all 13 cases connected to the Nithari killings.

Pandher, Koli's former employer and co-accused in the case, was also acquitted and released from prison in October 2023.

Koli's death comes less than a year after the Supreme Court's final acquittal brought his nearly two-decade legal battle to an end.