Nithari killings: CBI court awards death sentence to Pandher, Koli

Ghaziabad: In a massive development in the Nithari killings, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad on Monday awarded the death sentence to accused Moninder Singh Pandher and Surinder Koli in the 20-year-old Pinki Sarkar murder case.

The court has considered the case as 'rarest of the rare'.

Earlier on Saturday, the bench found prime accused Moninder Singh Pandher and his helper Surinder Koli guilty.

The case pertains to the horrific Nithari case where the police found skulls and bones of 16 people near Pandher's house in Noida village.

The CBI registered a case under sections 302, 376, 364, 201 and 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on December 29, 2006.

Both Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli have confessed to charges of raping, killing and cannibalism.

Koli has been already convicted of the five murders and was sentenced to death which was later changed to a life sentence by the Supreme Court on September 7, 2014.