Garhwal Post Bureau
Haridwar, 23 Sep: The post‑mortem report in the death of Surendra Koli, who came into notoriety during the Nithari case, has now been handed over to the police. The report states that the cause of death was asphyxia due to hanging. In view of this the Police have clarified that Koli had hanged himself with a rope on 19 September, and when the rope snapped he fell to the ground. Blood was seen coming from his nose, which had initially raised suspicion of murder, but doctors have confirmed that bleeding from the nose and mouth can occur after hanging due to blood pressure. The report has rules out homicide, though investigation into other aspects of the case continues.
The Police said that Koli had been living in Haridwar under the name Sadar Ram, concealing his identity. Originally from Mangrukhal village in Almora district, he had two brothers, one employed in Delhi and the other a teacher in Almora. He has a son and a daughter, with the daughter having been married while the son is residing in Delhi with his uncle. In Haridwar, an Aadhaar card was found in his pocket identifying him as Surendra Koli of Noida, while another identity card carried the name Sadar Ram. He had worked briefly as a security guard in Roshanabad and had opened a tea stall opposite a temple in Bhupatwala just four days before his death.
It may be recalled that the family members had raised doubts over the suicide theory, pointing to blood marks on the body and alleging a local conspiracy. They had also submitted a complaint letter to the police demanding investigation into possible murder. However, the post‑mortem has now confirmed death due to hanging, with doctors explaining that bleeding was consistent with the fall after the rope broke.
Koli’s name had first surfaced in the sensational Nithari killings in Noida, where he worked as a domestic help in the house of Moninder Singh Pandher. Between 2005 and 2006, several children and young women went missing in the area, and police recovered 19 skeletons from a drain behind Pandher’s house. The case had shocked the nation and was handed over to the CBI, which charged Pandher and Koli. In 2009, a CBI court in Ghaziabad sentenced both to death. The matter went through appeals in the High Court and Supreme Court, and in 2025, nearly two decades later, the apex court acquitted both, declaring them not guilty.
