Years after acquittal, Surendra Koli found dead
Surendra Koli, the man at the centre of the sensational Nithari killings who was subsequently acquitted in all 13 cases, was found hanging in his tea stall in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar on Friday, police said.
The police arrived at the scene on receiving information, took possession of the body and began investigating the case. Koli’s family members, who live in Almora, have been informed about the incident. According to the police, Koli had been living in Haridwar for the past few months. He was running a tea stall in the Bhupatwala area. On Friday, his body was found hanging inside the shop. Upon receiving information about the incident, a police team arrived at the scene and investigated.
Initial investigations suggest suicide, although the police are investigating all aspects of the case. No suicide note has been recovered from the shop.
Years after Nithari killings acquittal, Surendra Koli found dead in Haridwar. Various aspects are being investigated to ascertain the exact cause of death.
Koli was originally from Mangrukhal in the Almora district. To improve his family’s financial situation, he moved to Delhi in 2004-05 in search of employment. He worked for Maninder Singh Pandher in Noida and in 2006, the disappearance of several children and women and the discovery of human skeletons in Nithari caused a nationwide sensation. During the investigation, Koli’s name emerged as one of the main accused. He faced trial in the case, from the lower court to the high court. The Allahabad High Court sentenced him to death, which was later commuted to life imprisonment. After a protracted legal battle, in 2025, the Supreme Court acquitted him in the Nithari case due to lack of evidence.
Koli’s death, however, has raised questions, with the father of one of the victims claiming that it was murder, not suicide.
Jhabbu Lal’s 15-year-old daughter went missing in the summer of 2005, and her skeleton was discovered in 2006, bringing her name into the list of the Nithari killings.
Lal (64) questioned why Koli would take such a drastic step after spending several months outside prison following his release.
“If he had died by suicide in jail, it could be understood that he was depressed. But he took his life after being released and spending several months outside? This raises questions,” he said.
Lal speculated that Koli might have been about to disclose important information, which could be why he was killed.
He also claimed that Koli was not the main culprit in the Nithari case and asserted that Pandher was the main accused. “He should be hanged,” Lal insisted.
“If the government helps us, only then will we be able to continue our fight in future. We can’t fight on our own,” he added.
Lal and his wife Sunita (61) have spent nearly two decades seeking justice for their daughter. The couple, originally from Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district, moved to Nithari around four decades ago looking for work.
