The infamous Nithari killings in Noida are full of drama and twists, as even now there is a lot of secrets buried and will be forever.
The murders of young girls took place in the house of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher in Nithari in Noida in 2005 and 2006.
His servant Surinder Koli has been convicted of four murders and sentenced to death. 12 murders remain officially unsolved pending further legal proceedings.
The murders came to light when in December 2006, two Nithari residents claimed they knew the location of remains belonging to children who had gone missing in the previous two years.
It was the water tank behind Maninder Singh's house D5. Both had daughters who had disappeared, and they suspected Surinder Koli, the domestic help at D5, had something to do with the disappearances.
Koli confessed to killing six children and a 20-year-old girl known as "Payal" after raping them.
It was after a hue and cry in the media that Koli's employer, Moninder Singh Pandher, was picked up by the police on December 26 and Koli on December 27 in connection with the disappearance of Payal.
The two accused in the case were already in police custody while the skeletal remains of the young children were being unearthed from behind and in front of Pandher's residence.
On 12 February 2009, both the accused Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surender Koli were found guilty of the 8 February 2005 murder of Rimpa Haldar, 14, by a special sessions court in Ghaiabad.
This verdict left the CBI red faced, as the CBI had earlier given a clean chit to Moninder Singh Pandher in all its chargesheets. Both the accused Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surender Koli were given death sentence on 13 February 2009, as the case was classified as "rarest of rare".
On 4 May 2010, Koli was found guilty of the 25 October 2006 murder of Arti Prasad, 7, and given a second death sentence eight days later.
On 27 September 2010, Koli was found guilty of the 10 April 2006 murder of Rachna Lal, 9, and given a third death sentence the following day.
On 22 December 2010, Koli was found guilty of the June 2006 murder of Deepali Sarkar, 12, and given a fourth death sentence. On 15 February 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Surender Koli.
On September 10, 2009, The Allahabad high court acquitted Moninder Singh Pandher and overturned his death sentence.
He was not named a main suspect by investigators initially, but was summoned as co-accused during the trial. Pandher faces trial in five cases out of the remaining 12, and could be re-sentenced to death if found guilty in any of those killings.
