Surinder Koli, the “cannibal of Nithari”, evokes disgust among people. He maintains he is innocent and has been framed
By Nishant Goel
Surinder Koli came into limelight in December 2006 when the house of his employer, businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, in D-5, Sector 30, Nithari, Noida, was raided by the police and 19 human skulls, most of them of children, were recovered. Pandher and Koli were arrested. Later, the case was transferred to the CBI, which charge-sheeted Koli in 16 murder cases and Pandher in one. Pandher is currently out on bail and Koli is waiting to be hanged after the CBI court of Ghaziabad on September 3, 2014, issued a death warrant on him for five cases. Koli was shifted to Meerut Jail for execution the next day. But his execution was suspended twice by the Supreme Court, and has now been put on hold till November 25 by the Allahabad High Court. Speaking to this reporter inside a “Vajra” (riot control) vehicle outside Dasna Jail in Ghaziabad before he was being taken to Meerut Jail, Koli expressed helplessness. He said this was not an execution, but murder. Excerpts from the interview:
Are you aware of where and why you are being shifted?
Yes, I know I am being shifted to Meerut Jail and I am also aware that I will be murdered soon.
Would you like to share something for the last time?
I am innocent and I have done nothing. Still I will be hanged. This is not an execution, this is a murder carried out by the government. I tried to prove my innocence in the court and also tried my best to convince the government that I have nothing to do with these killings. But nobody is ready to listen to me because I am poor. I have not even been given legal assistance and the lawyers assigned for me didn’t give a fight. My murder will be a mockery of judicial system and Indian law.
Would you like to meet your family?
For many years, I have been praying for a meeting with my mother, wife and two children, but nobody is ready to hear me. Many a time I have prayed before the court, but every prayer of mine went in vain.
Is there any other thing you would like to share?
I have no hand in the gruesome killings of children in Nithari. Neither have I killed anybody nor have I eaten human flesh as rumored by the media and the CBI. The investigating agency has probed in a biased manner and has framed a poor man. Some doctors who lived in D-6, namely Dr Agarwal and Dr Naveen Chaudhary, were involved in organ trafficking and these children were killed for kidneys and other body parts. Also, Pandher used to give lavish parties and call girls used to visit the house for many big people. To save the big fish, I am being made a scapegoat.
But in your confessional statement you didn’t said a word about Pandher or these doctors.
Sahib, when a poor man has dozens of CBI personnel standing on his head, what else will he do? I was made to remember names and pictures of the children and the dates of the murders. Whatever I said in my confessional statement was told by the local police and the CBI. In my confessional statement, I also said many times that I was pressurized to say all these things.