Pandher, Koli held guilty of killing woman

Ghaziabad, July 22

A local CBI court on Saturday held businessman Maninder Singh Pandher and domestic help Surender Koli guilty of rape, murder, abduction and criminal conspiracy in a case relating to the killing of a 20-year-old woman.

The case, the eighth of the several lodged in connection with the Nithari serial rape-murders, was registered by the CBI on December 29, 2006.

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CBI special judge Pawan Kumar Tiwari held the two guilty and both Koli and Pandher were taken into custody. Pandher was earlier out on bail. The court is to pronounce the quantum of sentence on July 24.

The prosecution argued that scientific evidence has proved that Koli abducted, killed and raped the woman and tampered with the proof.

On October 5, 2006, the woman was returning home from work and passed by the road outside the D-5 residence of Pandher. Koli after killing her, beheaded her and threw the skull behind the house. Pandher was involved in conspiracy, the court ruled.

The gruesome cases came to light in 2006 when the police discovered the skulls and bones of 16 persons. — IANS