Man acquitted in gruesome India murder case found dead
The 50-year-old was freed of all charges by the Indian top court in November last year.
Man acquitted in gruesome India murder case found dead
Surinder Koli was cleared by India’s Supreme Court last year in a case tied to the brutal killing of 19 children and women
A man who had spent almost 20 years behind bars over one of India’s most infamous murder cases has died months after his release, according to media reports.
Surinder Koli, 50, was discovered hanging inside a tea stall he operated in Haridwar, in the northern state of Uttarakhand, on Friday, reports say.
He was freed in 2025 after India’s highest court acquitted him in the last case against him connected to the 2006 killings of women and children in Nithari, a village on the edge of Delhi.
His body has been recovered and an investigation has been opened, according to reports.
The 2006 case stunned India after the remains of 19 women and children were found near a bungalow.
When the case came to light, it triggered nationwide anger and raised questions about whether police had overlooked complaints from families whose children had disappeared.
Koli and his employer, businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, were arrested in 2006 after body parts were discovered near Pandher’s home in Nithari. Police said the murders happened there, where Koli worked as a servant.
Many of the victims came from poor migrant families, while the bungalow where the men lived was in a more prosperous part of the neighbourhood.
India’s top investigative agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), brought 19 cases against the two men. Koli was accused of murder, kidnapping, rape and destroying evidence, while Pandher was charged with immoral trafficking.
In 2023, the Allahabad High Court acquitted Koli in 12 cases. Pandher was also acquitted in two cases that year and released.
In November last year, the Supreme Court acquitted Koli in the final case, saying his confession - which included allegations of cannibalism and necrophilia - had been obtained under torture. He was released after 19 years in prison.
After his release, Koli reportedly relocated to Haridwar, where he had been running a rented tea stall for the past few months.