Have you watched the latest movie ‘Sector 36’ streaming on Netflix?! It appears the movie is loosely based on Nithari killings in Noida that was classified as the rarest of rare crime by the Court. The ‘house of horror’ in Noida where heinous crimes were committed including killing, rape and cannibalism shocked the nation in 2006.
(Trigger warning: Mentions of child sexual abuse and violence. Reader discretion advised)
Revisiting Nithari Killings in Noida
In early 2000s many children from Nithari village were found missing allegedly while they were playing near Nithari Paani ki Tanki. The horrifying fate of missing kids was revealed when human remains were scooped out of a drain near the house D5 in Noida’s Sector 31 owned by Moninder Singh Pandher.
There were 19 skulls in all, 16 complete and 3 damaged, that were fished out of the drain. A post-mortem at AIIMS Delhi reported 11 of the killed were girls. Pandher’s manservant, Surinder Koli, after strangling the victims he would severe their heads and cut the body into three pieces with butcher-like precision before throwing them in the drain near the house.
Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli were later accused and arrested on December 29, 2006 on charges of abduction, rape and murder. There were unsubstantiated charges against them of running an organ trafficking racket as well.

The rumour that Pandher-Koli duo were involved in organ trafficking arose because their neighbour Dr Navin Chaudhary was suspected and investigated for being involved in organ trafficking racket. However, law enforcement found no evidence to support these claims against him.
Children of Poor Migrant Labourers and House Helps Targeted
Nithari village is primarily home to thousands of poor migrants from West Bengal and Bihar. Men take odd jobs while women work as domestic helps in the neighbouring affluent Noida sectors. Children left behind, either go to the school or help out with housework.
As parents get busy making ends meet, the children were lured to D-5 bungalow with sweets and candy by Pandher’s Venus fly Trap – Koli. He would entice women with the lure of work guarantee and good pay.
Local residents believe police ignored the pleas of the parents of missing children as they came from poor families. Reportedly, police refused to register a missing complaint saying ‘the girl ran away with her lover’ or some similar lousy excuse. When the digging of the drains began, and unearthed the ghastly crimes, the negligence of police came to light. As a result several police officers were suspended including SSP Noida at that time.
Serial Killer Duo – Master and the Servant
Moninder Singh Pandher (born 1957) in his fifties at the time was the JCB dealer who lived in D-5 house of horrors. Son of a rich transporter from Ambala, he attended India’s best educational institutions, Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, between 1963 and 1973, and Delhi’s St Stephen’s College where he graduated in history honours in 1977.
He moved to Noida in 2002 to expand his transport business and run dealership of JCB (earthmoving machinery). Residents recall him as a soft-spoken, an insulin-dependent diabetic who smoked Classic Milds and chewed pan masala.
Pandher’s man servant, Surendra Koli (born 1970) in his thirties then was from Mangrukhal in Uttarakhand. During interrogation he confessed to necrophilia (having sex with corpses) and cannibalism (eating human flesh). He later retracted his confession in court saying it had been beaten out of him. He was Pandher’s man Friday who lured the victims, raped and killed together and then disposed of the evidence.

What Happened to the Serial Killer Duo linked with Nithari killings in Noida
Police had originally filed 19 FIRs against Pandher and Koli in connection with crimes against 19 different girls while the CBI chargesheeted them in 16 cases.
In February 2009 Koli and Pandher were convicted and sentenced to death by a special sessions court in Ghaziabad in the very first case lodged against them for rape and murder. The victim was 14-yr-old Rimpa who was one of many who had mysteriously disappeared.
However, later in September 2009, Pandher was released after narco-analysis or the brain mapping test didn’t find him guilty of committing any crime. The authorities pinned all the blame on the manservant Surinder Koli of abducting, raping children and women from nearby Nithari, committing acts of cannibalism, and disposing of their bodies in a drain near the house.
Between 2010 and 2012 death sentences were given to both in cases related to victims Arti (7), Deepali (9), Rachna (12) and Chhoti Kavita (5). Again in 2017, death sentence was awarded by CBI special court in Ghaziabad to Pandher and Koli for the rape and murder of Payal, a 25-year-old help.
Jail transfers from Dasna to Meerut, stay orders, back and forth inquiries and investigations, more convictions and acquittals followed.
The case dragged on till the year 2023.
Finally, one fine Monday on October 16, 2023, the Allahabad High Court acquitted the notorious Nithari serial murder case duo of all the charges for ‘lack of evidence‘.
The movie, ‘Sector 36’ is a directorial debut of Aditya Nimbalkar, written by Bodhayan Roychaudhury and produced by Maddock Films and Jio Studios. This psychological crime thriller stars Vikrant Massey, Deepak Dobriyal and Akash Khurana. |
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