Surendra Koli, the central figure in the notorious 2006 Nithari killings, was found dead at a tea stall he ran in Haridwar on Friday, according to police. Koli, 50, had spent close to twenty years behind bars before being cleared in all 13 cases linked to the killings.
He had once worked as domestic help for businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, his co-accused in the case. Police said his body was discovered with a rope around the neck, with another length of rope still tied to the ceiling fan; no suicide note was found.
Haridwar city deputy superintendent of police Shishupal Singh Negi said officers responded after receiving word of a body at the shop in the Saptarishi locality. He said it appeared the rope may have broken under the body’s weight after death, but that the exact cause would only be confirmed once post-mortem results come in. Local station house officer Kundan Singh Rana said Koli had been running the tea stall for only about four days and was originally from the Bhikiasain area of Almora district.
Background of the case
The Nithari case broke in 2006, when human remains were unearthed from drains and the grounds of Pandher’s home in Noida’s Sector 31, triggering widespread public anger over the disappearances and killings of several children and women in the area. Koli and Pandher were taken into custody in December 2006 on charges including rape, abduction, trafficking and tampering with evidence, and the CBI took over the investigation the following month. Pandher was acquitted by the Allahabad High Court in 2023.
Much of the prosecution’s case against Koli rested on a confession he reportedly gave before a magistrate in March 2007. Over time, courts cleared him in 12 of the 13 cases, and in 2025 the Supreme Court acquitted him in the last remaining case — concerning the alleged rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl — ruling that criminal convictions cannot rest on suspicion alone. A bench led by then-Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, along with Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, acknowledged the horrific nature of the Nithari crimes and the immense suffering of victims’ families, but held that the real culprit had never been identified to the standard the law requires, and that suspicion — however strong — cannot substitute for proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Life after release
Koli walked free on November 12, 2025. He later took up work in Haridwar, first briefly as a security guard in nearby Roshanabad, then running a food cart, before renting a tea stall in the Kumbh Mela area under the name “Sada Ram.” The stall’s owner, Anil Sharma, said Koli had hoped to build up his tea business ahead of next year’s Ardh Kumbh fair and spoke of wanting to move his family to Haridwar for better prospects. He paid ₹7,000 a month in rent with a ₹14,000 advance.
Neighboring vendors said they were stunned to learn, after his death, that the tea seller they knew was Koli. Police said they had informed his family in Almora and opened an inquiry into the circumstances of his death.
A family long estranged
Residents of Koli’s native village, Mangrukhal in Almora, said his family home had sat largely abandoned for years, and that his two brothers — one working in Delhi, the other in Almora — had distanced themselves from him after his name surfaced in the case. His mother and wife had visited him in prison in the early years, but his wife left the village with their two young children in 2010 and never returned. His mother died in 2022-23; his brothers came for that, but otherwise stayed away, according to village head Ishu Devi. Villagers said they would not have objected to Koli returning home after his acquittal, and said they learned of his death through social media.
Victim’s family skeptical
The parents of one of the child victims recovered from the Noida property voiced doubt about the official account, suggesting foul play rather than suicide and calling for a thorough investigation. They said they had largely given up hope of further justice after last year’s Supreme Court ruling but still wanted those responsible for the killings held accountable.
