Surinder Koli, once convicted in multiple Nithari killings cases, was found dead in Haridwar on Friday. No suicide note was recovered, and police said they were investigating the circumstances. His death comes less than a year after the Supreme Court cleared him in the final case against him.
BY PC Bureau
Surinder Koli, the former domestic worker at the centre of the 2006 Nithari killings in Noida, was found dead at a tea stall in Haridwar on Friday, with police treating the death as a suspected suicide.
Police from the Sapt Rishi outpost under City Kotwali were alerted after reports that a man had hanged himself at a tea stall opposite Lalmata Temple on Sapt Sarovar Road in the Bhupatwala area. Officers found the body suspended from a rope inside the stall.
Police identified the deceased as Koli, infamous as “moinster of Nitihari” , a native of Mangrukhal in Almora district. He had reportedly been living in Haridwar for several months and had recently started running the rented tea stall.
No suicide note was recovered, police said. Investigators are examining the circumstances surrounding his death and have informed Koli’s relatives in Almora.
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Koli’s death comes less than a year after the Supreme Court cleared him in the last remaining Nithari case in November 2025 and ordered his release. He had previously been acquitted in the other cases arising from the same investigation.
The Nithari killings came to light in December 2006 after skeletal remains of several missing children were recovered from a drain behind a house in Noida where Koli worked. The case triggered nationwide outrage and led to a lengthy investigation and prosecution.
Koli was initially convicted in multiple cases and spent nearly two decades in prison. However, courts subsequently overturned the convictions, with judgments pointing to serious shortcomings in the investigation and evidence presented against him.
The Supreme Court’s final acquittal brought an end to the criminal cases against Koli, although questions surrounding the Nithari killings and the investigation into them have continued to draw scrutiny.
Police are now investigating the circumstances of Koli’s death in Haridwar.
