Chronicling the savagery of the Nithari Killings

As expected

2007-03-27T01:03:00.000-07:00

Moninder is expected to go free while his servant/ accomplice, Surendra Koli has taken the blame for the multiple incidents of rape and murder against young children in Nithari that "rocked" the nation on December 30th 2006.

This is not over yet. Watch this blog this week

Almost 3 months and ... ?

2007-03-05T23:33:00.000-08:00

Suppose.. just Suppose...

That Nithari had been engineered by villagers, 2 of them... Ramu and Shamu, lets call them that, yes ?

Lets imagine now that they prey upon children, but not just "any" child.... Only children of VIPs.

One day, they get caught because one of their VIP victims has a tracking device on his cellular phone.

How would the Law deal with Ramu and Shamu ?

Holi no more

2007-03-04T11:17:00.000-08:00

New Delhi: While the nation was all song and dance in Holi colours on Sunday, parents and relatives of the Nithari victims laid a mock siege to D-5—the horror house where Moninder Singh Pandher and Surinder Koli’s butchered over 30 kidnapped children of Nithari.
Angry villagers burnt effigies of both the accused and beat them up with sticks and batons.
They even protested the 'holika dahan' ceremony (Holi bonfire), which used to take place close to Pandher's house every year.

Villagers decided to change the venue into a protest zone. However, it was performed at about 500 metres away from the venue.

As only 16 of the 24 families of the victims lived in Nithari (8 other families lived elsewhere), it was hardly an event worth making a mark. Surprisingly, none of the families wanted to talk about the tragedy.

Barring a few pockets where the families of the victims lived, life was usual revelry and pomp at the Nithari village. People played Holi and participated in all celebrations to mark the occasion.

Confession

2007-03-01T23:26:00.000-08:00

Thank you Panther for putting this up first.

New Delhi: Surendra Koli, one of the two accused in the serial murders in Noida’s Nithari village, on Thursday told a court he had raped minor girls and women.

In a written submission before a court in Delhi, Koli said he wanted to confess and unburden his confession. The court ordered that Koli’s statement be recorded on video
Koli and his boss Moninder Singh Pandher are accused of raping and murdering children and women in their bungalow near Nithari village.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is handling the probe, has till now found the bodies of four women and 15 children near Pandher’s bungalow.

The case was shifted to the Patiala House Courts in Delhi after a mob attacked the accused in a Ghaziabad court, which was supposed to handle the trial.

The Delhi court has appointed three lawyers to defend Koli, who is suspected to have chopped his victims into pieces after strangling them. The court had difficultly in this as at least two lawyers refused to take up the case. A woman lawyer refused to defend him, saying she feared a threat to her life.

The serial murders in the small village have shocked the nation and severely embarrassed UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was accused of failing to maintain rule of law in the state.

Question - Who was paid off and how much ? The parents of the victims and concerned citizens of this country would like to know.

Child Rights Commision Chief Appointed

2007-02-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

A ray of hope for Nithari ?
Or just another promise-filled balloon of dreams that is going to start off with a bang and fizzle out before any solid work is done ?

Child Rights Commission chairperson appointed
Chetan ChauhanNew Delhi
February 23, 2007

At last, children have a body to complain against abuse of their rights. The government on Friday appointed Magsasay Award winner sociologist Shantha Sinha as the first chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, thereby making the commission effective.

Although six other members of the commission set up by the Women and Child Development ministry are yet to be appointed, Sinha told HT that the commission would start functioning from its office in Jasola, south Delhi, soon. "It is just matter of days," she said, when asked about the timeframe.

The commission, having similar functions as National Commission for Women, will also examine the safeguards provided in the Constitution for protection of child rights and its implementation. The commission will also look into issues related to children affected by terrorism, communal violence, riots, natural disaster, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, trafficking and prostitution. It will also have powers to commission studies on children and create awareness about child rights.
The Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, notified in December 2006, empowers the commission to conduct investigations into complaints regarding children and even take suo-motto action. It can also issue suggestions to states on issues related to children.

But for Sinha the priority is to prevent repeat of incidents like Nithari. "Nithari pricked the conscious of the nation. We will try that such incident are not repeated again. For me, all issues related to child rights is a priority," she said, pointing that the commission will present 42 per cent of India’s population, that is below 18.

Hey she's a Sinha and Im a Sinha too :-)

Let us sit back and watch things unfurl for this country, FINALLY. We need change.
Jai Hind

Lucknow schools get safety-savvy

2007-02-22T15:55:00.000-08:00

Nithari lesson: ‘Safe school’ by SCERT

Lucknow, February 22: Nithari has forced the Uttar Pradesh education department to ponder on the need to educate both teachers and students on the growing menace that is kidnapping.
Students of both private and government schools are at the risk of being kidnapped, the department has realised. The State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has, therefore, launched a unique module called ‘Safe school’, where teachers will be trained to make students work in groups, constantly interact with each other and inform the teacher if a single student of the group goes missing. Students of government primary and junior high schools are the main target of this module.

A set of “master trainers” from 70 districts have already been briefed about the programme. They, in turn, will educate government teachers in respective districts about the need to keep students safe, not only from people but also from disasters and natural calamities.

“The SCERT realised the need for such a programme after extensive discussions with teachers and students. The detailed module was prepared by experts, who have also included structural as well as health safety factors. The module is ready in collaboration with the Centre for Environment Studies (CEE) and teachers are being trained. Our next aim is to seek the participation of parents,” said Himanshu Mohan, the research professor at SCERT.

He added, “Students of government schools are at a risk because they are never taught about who to speak to, how to react in case of disasters etc. Moreover, even government teachers are unaware of disaster management facts. We hope to bring about a qualitative change in our government schools.”

SCERT officials informed that teachers will not only form groups of children but will also select two leaders from each class for a year, who will act as a bridge between teachers and students. Information about local fire and police station numbers will be put up in schools and students will be taught to talk on the phone and give the desired information.

In-charge of a block resource centre in Jalaun G D Upadhyaya said, “These things were never talked about earlier. But we have understood their importance from the training. This will help schools in rural areas because parents are away working in the fields leaving the children to look after each other.” Apart from this, fire safety and evacuation drills, structural safety of schools, cleanliness etc are also part of the program.

The SCERT as well as DIETs (District Institute of Educational Training) in various districts have also formulated a refresher course in May. “We will not let teachers forget what has been taught. A refresher course will keep things alive in their minds, particularly at the beginning of a new session,” Mohan added.

With reference to the portion highlighted in red - it is important to note that schools don't teach children about personal safety at all. research and interviews have shown the following -

There are no provisions made or school timings kept aside for fire/first aid/safety training.

Awareness and interactive discussions are based mostly on either religious high-moral teaching and in-school propaganda.

School and College groups have the facilities and means to create their own movement against violence if they desire to, however it appears that desire and inclination are lacking.

Personal safety is a concept that is abhorred in a lot of schools. A recent interview i had with a city school principal resulted in "we don't need personal safety, if the children have the problem there is a school counsellor to talk to". The children's reaction ? "the school counsellor is unapproachable and ineffective".

NHRC

2007-02-15T11:01:00.000-08:00

NHRC asks for a report from Chief Secretary & DGP, UP on the present status of CBI Investigation into the missing persons / children in Nithari Village; asks to specify whether all missing cases have been entrusted to CBI

New Delhi, February 15, 2007

The National Human Rights Commission has directed the Chief Secretary and DGP, Uttar Pradesh to submit a detailed report within four weeks, giving the present status of CBI Investigation and specify whether cases of all the missing persons or children in Nithari Village have been registered and entrusted for investigation to CBI. The NHRC’s direction comes after DGP, UP forwarded a report of the Inspector General of Police, Meerut Zone. The Commission in its order dated January 2, 2007 had sought a factual report from the two authorities earlier. The report of the IG, Meerut Zone discloses that 19 cases have been registered during the period 13.12.2006 to 04.01.2007 in connection with the missing / abducted children / adults from the Nithari Village. According to the report, the investigation of these cases has been entrusted to CBI.

The report spells out the steps taken by the State Govt. to provide monetary and other relief to the family of the victims and steps taken by the District Police to trace the missing children. It has also talked about the disciplinary actions taken against the erring police officers.The Commission after going through the report, however felt it did not clearly state whether CBI Investigation is limited to the 19 registered cases or covers the cases of all persons reported missing in the village. It may be recalled that as per media reports, more than 38 persons / children were missing from the village. It is also not clear whether cases have been registered in respect of all those missing. The Commission has expressed serious concern on the recent phenomenon of missing children. It said this is not confined to Nithari alone as similar incidents have been reported from other parts of the country as well.

Taking serious view of the happenings all over the country, the Commission has said that the issue needs to be examined in depth and guidelines be evolved to deal with such cases effectively and meaningfully to protect and promote Human Rights of children. The Commission also said appropriate steps are to be taken so that their rights are not violated. In view of the seriousness of the issue, the Commission has decided to appoint a Committee to study the matter in detail and give suggestions so that appropriate guidelines may be drawn by the Commission.

[The Committee from NHRC comprises of Shri P.C. Sharma (Member), as Chairman, Shri Damodar Sarangi, DG(I), Shri A.K. Garg, Registrar(Law) & Dr. Savita Bhakhry, SRO as its Members and Shri P.M.V. Siromony, CC(Trg.) as Convener. The Committee has been given eight weeks time to submit its report.]

Nithari not good enough for TRP's ?

2007-02-07T23:00:00.000-08:00

As the investigation into Nithari continues, it seems as if the media is getting a little tired of the lack of sensationalism in the case. From being a staple "talk piece" on news channels, Nithari is the last thing anybody wishes to focus on. Matters of "racism" against Shilpa Shetty have replaced Nithari mania.

It will take a lifetime perhaps, to bring to the public eye, the sheer lack of humanity associated with Nithari and it's aftermath. A political circus seems to result from anything that happens to society and the vote-bank drama takes precedance over soberiety over the issue.

Nithari: AIIMS reveals gory details

New Delhi, Feb 6: Blood curdling details have come to light on how bodies of Nithari victims were hacked into pieces before being disposed of.

The gory revelation was made by AIIMS which conducted postmortem examination on the bodies and also concluded that there were 19 skulls -- 16 complete and three damaged, official sources said here today.

The bodies had been cut into three pieces before being disposed of by Surendra Koli, one of the main accused in the serial killings of women and children in Noida.

CBI sources said Koli after strangulating the victims, used to severe the head and throw it in the drain behind the house of his employer and another main accused in the case Moninder Singh Pandher, legs in the drain in its front and the torso in the drain along the main road of the house.
The sources said Koli used to keep the viscera in a polythene bag before throwing it into the drain to prevent easy detection and identification of the victims.

The CBI has now called experts from the Bangalore-based National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences to conduct a phsyco-pathological test on Koli, they said.

The CBI has also sent skulls and other skeletal and bio-material remains to the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagonastics (CDFD), Hyderabad, and roped in more DNA experts to complete the profiling in the case, the sources said.

The CBI custody of Koli and Pandher is due to expire on February eight. (Agencies)
Published: Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Did villagers aid the Killers ?

2007-02-06T15:12:00.000-08:00

There is no doubt that Nithari could not have gone unnoticed for two years by all and sundry.There were some definite cover-ups by the police and other high-up people. Here's what some local residents had to say about the alleged involvement of some of their own people -

GIVING A new twist to the gruesome killings of 17 children at Nithari, parents of seven victims have accused some fellow villagers of aiding the killers in the crime.

“The killings were on for the past two years in an organised manner. It was not possible without the help of local residents,” stated Sunil Biswas, father of Pushpa (13 years) who was allegedly killed by Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surendra Koli.

“Moninder and his servant never came to our village. The local residents kidnapped our children and handed them over to the killer duo,” asserted Biswas adding, “Now we are being threatened by them to hush up the matter.”

Talking to HT, Biswas said life of all the kin of the victims was in danger.

He said he had met Surendra Koli thrice after his arrest. “I have met Surendra three times and he never appeared to be mentally insane,” asserted Biswas.

His memory was so sharp that he remembered each and every detail related to the killings, Biswas said adding, “When I asked him about my daughter, Surendra even remembered the exact colour of the dress she was wearing on the fateful day.”

The Nithari families were in the city on their way back home after meeting the CM in Lucknow on Sunday. They said they had complete faith on the recently transferred SSP of Noida RKS Rathore and demanded revocation of his transfer order. James Thapa, father of another victim Nisha (10 years), said Rathore was instrumental in working out the case and arrest of the main culprits.

“Rathore was on the verge of exposing these local residents, who acted as the agents of the two killers,” added Thapa. Reeta Sarkar, mother of Deepali (12 years), also accused local residents of being hand-in-glove with the two killers.

These locals threatened us with dire consequences after SSP Rathore got transferred, stated Sarkar. During our meeting with the CM, we also requested him to revoke the transfer orders of SSP Rathore and Circle Officer Dinesh Yadav, Sarkar added.

Biswas and Thapa said if their demands were not met, they would take the extreme step of self-immolation.

UH OH. .

and now they bribe them with JOBS ???

2007-02-04T06:45:00.000-08:00

CM announces jobs to Nithari families
Masoodul HasanLucknow, February 4, 2007

Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday announced to provide jobs to 17 affected families in Nithari serial killings.

Yadav said the government had already given financial assistance of Rs five lakh and a housing plot to every affected family in Noida.

Expressing concern over the killing of children, the chief minister told a delegation of family members of Nithari victims that the government had taken prompt and effective measures to unearth the conspiracy.

Asserting that there was no slackness on the part of the government, Yadav said irreparable loss to the affected families could not be compensated but the government had made efforts to help them.

The demand for the job was made by the 11 visiting family members.

Yadav said instead of politicking on the issue, efforts should be made to look into the matter in wider perspective as there had been disappearance of large number of children all over the country.

He said stern disciplinary action had been taken against erring police officers in Noida. Yadav said in the past government never acted promptly in any case.

While SSP RKS Rathore has been transferred, six police officers including circle officer Dinesh Yadav had been placed under suspension.

A two-member high-level committee had indicted Rathore in the case.

The delegation of 11 families, while appreciating the government for prompt action in the case, asked the chief minister to re-appoint Rathore.

Talking to newsmen the family members said there was serious threat to them from the accused and Rathore had provided them adequate security.

Interestingly they also said that suspended police circle officer Dinesh Yadav should be re-instated.

In a memorandum to the chief minister the family members said while RKS Rathore had been unnecessarily punished, no action had been taken against police officers directly responsible for incident.

However they did not name any body in the memorandum.

They said compensation and plot had also so far not been provided.

The delegation was consisting of Satish Chandra Mishra, Kusum Agarwal, Miss Balesh Sharma, Anil Kumar Upadhayaya, Jhabbu Lal, Pappu Lal, James, Durga Prasad, Sunil Vishwas and Ram Kishan.

I find this a tad controversial

2007-02-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

Did Nithari men confess to parents?

New Delhi, Feb 2: Parents of children who fell victims to the Nithari killers had a meeting with the two suspects and the latter confessed to have committed the crimes, a private news channel has reported.

The Noida Police had arranged the meeting of parents with Moninder Singh Pandher and his partner in crime Surinder Koli, in the killing of over 30 children and women, during the course of investigations on December 30.

Ram Kishen, whose son Harsh was allegedly murdered by the duo, told NDTV that when he encountered the businessman at the police station Moninder said he had made a mistake. "I asked him (Moninder) why he did such a horrible thing with the children even after being a big man. He said he made a mistake," Kishen said.

Pappu Lal, another parent who met the suspects said he asked the duo what they had done with the children. "I asked, what did he (Surinder) do with the children. He said he killed the children and then had sex with them. About Moninder, the servant said he used to do this things at the behest of his master," Lal said.

Kishen claimed that Surinder denied killing his eight- year-old son but admitted to killing two children who were five and three years of age.
"When I asked why he killed my son, he said he did not kill any eight year old. But I have killed two children who were five and three years old," Kishen said.

When confronted with Harsh's photo, Kishen said, "Surinder admitted to picking up him thinking that he was a girl." (Agencies)

WHAT ??!

Why are the parents of the dead children being made to meet their children's rapists/killers ? Aren't there laws against this ?

Accused beaten up

2007-01-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

Should have KILLED the bastards.

http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=Noidakillings&slug=Nithari+accused+face+mob+fury&id=21266&callid=0&category=National

Hell.

When these two monsters assaulted and murdered children, nobody cared to come to the defence of the children.

But when the monsters are in custody and a righteously outraged mob decides to kick them in the balls, they're given protection ??

Like i said. Hell.

Justice is definitely on a screwed up foot here. Protect the damn criminals and disrespect some rightful anger.

All in the DNA - Outlook magazine

2007-01-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Forensics is what the CBI will mostly rely on to nail the case

Exactly how monstrous were the goings-on in Noida's D-5, Sector 31 household? As fragments of bones, skulls, teeth, chopped body parts and organs continue to be dredged up even days after the Nithari killings first came to light, the magnitude of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surindra Koli's depravities gets only larger, and the CBI's task of investigation proportionately more daunting.

From the initial figure of 22, the number of the duo's victims is already being pegged at over 40. It could well be even more, as the CBI widens its investigative net.

More than 400 CBI sleuths are on the job; 20 teams are investigating various aspects of the case.

The agency now faces the formidable challenge of piecing together evidence that will stand up in a court of law. It might have its first witness in six-year-old schoolgirl Mehnaz Khan, who apparently escaped Koli's clutches and recognised him and Pandher's house on television.

But it's forensic evidence the CBI will largely have to rely upon since in a case like Nithari, there are no witnesses apart from the accused.

Ever since it took over investigations on January 12, the CBI has sifted through the various theories and reached a few basic conclusions. Pandher, it believes, was hand-in-glove with Koli, and knew exactly what was happening. Necrophilia, on the part of Koli at least, has been confirmed; the possibility of Pandher too being in it hasn't been ruled out. Koli has confessed to cannibalism as well, speaking about having consumed human flesh and organs. The CBI is inclined to discount organ trade as the motive right now, with the recovery of torsos and organs in neatly-packed and disinfectant-sprayed polythene bags.

More than 400 CBI sleuths are on the job. Twenty teams, investigating various aspects of the case, have been formed. One has gone to Koli's village in Almora district, another is probing Pandher's possible political links. Yet another is looking into any deliberate lapses by the UP police to shield Pandher and Koli. A few teams are coordinating with forensic experts at AIIMS, the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi and the Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad. Help is also being sought from forensic specialists abroad, from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, Australia, and the UK police.

But even before the forensic experts can get to work, the CBI faces the mammoth task of arranging the large mass of evidence. This means it has to first draw up a list of missing children from Nithari, identify those who fell prey to Pandher and Koli, then collect DNA samples from their parents or kin and match them with the recovered body parts and bones. The exercise will be a time-consuming one and painstakingly laborious, but investigators say they have no other option.

"Foolproof identification of victims is crucial to the case," says a CBI official. "It is essential to nail both Pandher and Koli." The committee of forensic experts working with the CBI will first have to do a preliminary physical identification of the victims to get a fix on their physical attributes based on age, sex and height. Dental experts have been roped in for inputs and cranio-facial reconstruction would be done in cases where the skull has been found.

Then will come the DNA fingerprinting, putting perhaps a final seal on the case. The CBI has in the past successfully used DNA tests-- sometimes on mere shreds of evidence -- to unravel crucial crimes. In the Madhumita Shukla murder case, for instance, it recovered clinching DNA samples from the undergarments of the deceased; in the Priyadarshini Mattoo case, the DNA obtained from a semen stain proved to be the clincher. More recently, the CBI resolved a few Gujarat riot cases on the basis of forensic evidence gathered from bodies dug out of mass graves first in Dahod and then in Lunawada.

Alongside, the investigators will continue their interrogation of Pandher. They plan to bring him face-to-face with the families of the victims in the hope he'll break down. But testimonies of the accused can be denied later in court. The CBI is not leaving it to that chance. It's sparing no effort in collecting hard evidence -- based on leads gleaned during interrogation, and otherwise -- of a crime two sick minds played out.

City Was His Frankenstein

2007-01-23T12:45:00.000-08:00

Tucked away in the Kumaon hills in Almora district, Mangrukhal is a nondescript settlement of about 60 homes. It's a region where even thefts are unheard of, and villagers are still to come to terms with the sudden spotlight Surindra Koli's doings in faraway Delhi has brought on them.

On January 15, a CBI team from Delhi, accompanied by one of Koli's brothers, reached Mangrukhal, looking for clues. They questioned Koli's kin and those who knew him but came across nothing in his past that would suggest he was mentally disturbed or harboured psychopathic tendencies. His acquaintances say Sada Ram, as he's known back home, was just like other children in the neighbourhood: amiable to his friends and deferential to his elders. "We never had a complaint against him," says Rajan Ram, Koli's neighbour.

Basically Dalits, the Koli community lives on the margins of the village, away from the upper-caste Thakurs. Now they're worried they'll pay for Koli's crimes in Delhi; that it might affect those going from the village and the region to the cities for employment. Most households here have male members working in the plains. "It is a nuisance and a shame," says Bhopal Singh, from the village. "We're people who have nothing to do with such things." "There is a certain fear about how this could've happened," adds Joga Singh Negi, head of the local village mahasabha.

Amidst all this, Surindra's family stands steadfastly by him. This includes his wife, who has just delivered their second child. They insist he has been framed because he is poor and helpless. For others in Mangrukhal, it is the big, bad city that changed the genteel Sada Ram of their village into the cold-blooded, vicious Frankenstein's monster they are now hearing about.

Devil In The Flesh - Bhavna Vij-Aurora

2007-01-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

What turned Moninder Singh Pandher and his man Friday Surindra Koli into bloodthirsty fiends?

Why? How?
The police are exploring various theories about why Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surindra Koli turned serial killers:
Both Were Sexual Deviants: This, the police claim, has been established by its investigation as well as the narco-analysis of master and servant. Koli scouted for victims and brought them to Pandher's residence in Noida. They were later killed.

The Organ Trade Angle: The precision with which the bodies were cut has led to the organ trade angle being investigated. The police has not ruled it out but has left it to the CBI to further examine this possibility.

Duo Killed For Fun: The meticulous manner in which the bodies of the victims were chopped has led the police to explore the possibility that both Pandher and Koli derived pleasure from the very act of killing.

Victims Better Dead: After subjecting the children to sexual abuse, the two may have thought it best to kill them rather than risk relatives lodging police complaints.
***

"People like Moninder Singh Pandher can be very charming and caring if they want to be. In fact, they may appear normal to people around them. They have this remarkable ability of hiding their other darker self from the world."

—Dr Rajat Mitra, crime psychologist working closely with the Delhi police and who visited Nithari after the serial killings came to light.

If one reads 52-year-old Moninder Singh Pandher’s bio data there is nothing to suggest a Jekyll and Hyde personality trapped within the recesses of a disturbed mind. Enrolled in the elite Bishop Cotton School, Shimla—class of 1973—history graduate from Delhi’s prestigious St Stephen’s College, middle-level businessman, a not-so-caring husband, devoted father. Many of those who knew him in school can’t believe that "Goldy" Pandher—a regular nice kid who did not smash windows or bunk class—could have been involved with his servant, Surindra Koli, a seventh class dropout, in a spree of gruesome serial killing of children that has shocked the entire nation.

Urbane and educated, Moninder may have had a taste for expensive whisky and wine. But the police interrogation of this businessman and his servant accomplice, and the subsequent narco tests conducted on the duo, reveal that Moninder had a diseased and perverted side to him. He sexually abused women and children and he was certainly aware that the bodies of his victims were chopped into pieces, then disposed of in a drain outside his double-storeyed bungalow in the posh Sector 31 of Noida. While Moninder has been described by the police as a tough nut to crack, his partner in crime, Koli, has been singing. He not only confessed to his role in the diabolical crimes but has also admitted to heinous acts of necrophilia and cannibalism.

Narco-analysis tests conducted on Moninder and Koli at the Forensic Science Laboratory in Gandhinagar have been revealing. Though the results of these tests are not admissible in court, sources say many startling facts have emerged. The truth serum made Moninder admit that he was estranged from his wife because she refused to give in to many of his sexual demands. According to him, he wanted her to participate in sexual orgies "involving many women". He admitted to having orgies in his Noida residence in his wife’s absence—she having moved to Chandigarh a year ago.

When seized by sexual frenzy, Moninder would be like an animal. "It could be anybody. A girl or a boy, teenager or a mere child. That is what is emerging from the narco-analysis test,’’ a senior UP police official told Outlook.

The police found 17 skulls and a large number of bones from the drain outside the Noida house, indicating that the number of victims could be higher than the 17 located so far. Inside Moninder’s bungalow they found surgical knives, gloves, a butcher’s knife, a large number of blood-stained clothes, undergarments and school bags strewn around.

Moninder admitted in the narco test that he left his wife as she refused his perverse demands.
A variety of pornographic material—books, magazines and movies—were recovered from Moninder’s bedroom.

The not-so-imposing yellow bungalow, last in the lane and well shielded by trees, offers little glimpse of the people residing inside. The police party which went in on December 29 says the calm facade was misleading. "In the five-room bungalow, we found blood-stains on the floor of one bathroom, in the lobby and vomit on the sofa—probably of Payal, one of the girls murdered in the house," an official told Outlook. It was Payal’s father’s persistence that led the police to stumble on the series of horrific crimes happening right under their nose.
According to a senior official who interrogated the master and servant, Moninder showed no signs of remorse when confronted with the photographs and the remains of the children.

"He kept repeating he was a lonely man who desired companionship and often directed his servant Koli to fetch women. Kisi ko bhi lao. Koi bhi chalega. (Fetch me someone. Anyone will do) was the constant refrain," recalls the official. On the other hand,when Koli, father of a three-year-old daughter, was shown the remains of the children, he broke down and confessed to sexually abusing and killing them.

So who is the real Moninder Singh Pandher? Narender Chauhan, secretary, rural development in the Himachal Pradesh government, remembers Moninder in Bishop Cotton school. He was neither a loner nor a bully, he says. Another Moninder contemporary recalls him as ordinary. "Just the usual, friendly boy. Not brilliant to get into IIT as the top five students in the class of 1973 were, but not a dud either," he says. Moninder’s St Stephen’s College contemporaries, from where he passed out in 1977, do not remember him at all. "Are you sure you have the year right? It’s strange that we can’t seem to remember him at all," said one of his batchmates.

But then it was not all about an unassuming boy turning into a psychopath. As Outlook met Moninder’s relatives, the picture that emerged was that of a man who had a troubled past and who was a loner. He lost his mother when he was young and was brought up by his father who was known for his womanising ways. Moninder was a failed businessman who ran down his father’s transport business from 200 trucks to 25. He grew up to have bitter fights with his brother and sister which continue to this day.

In fact, ever since his grisly activities in Noida came to light, neither his wife nor his siblings have tried to meet him and organise help and support. The huge 2,000-square-yard family home in Chandigarh’s sector 27 has a posse of policemen outside, and few visitors, except from the media.

Moninder is estranged from his elder brother Iqbal Singh and his sister Manjit Kochhar over his late father Sampooran Singh Pandher’s property.

Moninder’s brother and sister see him as the usurper of most of their father’s wealth. They allege that he fabricated Sampooran’s will which has led to a bitter battle between the siblings. Both Manjit and Iqbal have been disinherited in the will. Family sources disclose that there were frequent fights over the property.
Both Moninder and his brother are well known for their drinking binges. Iqbal, now in his sixties, is in a disoriented state, while Moninder’s liver and pancreas have suffered extensive damage. Moninder comes through as a debauched man trying hard to stay away from alcohol and struggling to rebuild the family business which once flourished under his father.

His womanising is also something of an open secret in the family. Even son Karan, when asked whether it was true that call girls used to frequent the Noida house, admitted, "He was alone there so he may have brought girls there."
According to relatives, Moninder had begun to show signs of cracking lately. At his nephew’s wedding reception last month in Chandigarh, he came drunk and flew into a rage when he saw his brother’s family. He later walked out of the reception. Recalls a family member: "I really thought he had lost it from the manner in which he was behaving that day."
For years the entire Pandher clan lived together in their Chandigarh house till 2001, when Iqbal and his family were evicted. But relatives say that though they were ostensibly living as a joint family, the atmosphere at home completely lacked any warmth. "Even though we were all living under one roof for many years, we hardly ever communicated with each other or had meals together. It was very odd," disclosed a member of the household.

In recent years, Moninder had become a rare visitor to Chandigarh and preferred to live most of the time in the Noida house which he bought in March 2004. In June 2005, his wife Davinder Kaur suddenly returned to Chandigarh. Though she told Outlook that she "came back to look after her ailing father-in-law", Moninder’s relatives insist that she had serious problems with her husband. "It is much more than a tiff. Perhaps she saw or sensed something which she could not stomach," remarked a family member. Many in the family believe that it was Davinder Kaur’s decision to move out of the Noida house that has brought things to such a pass.

Extra-marital liaisons is something Moninder has lived with most of his life. Family insiders disclose that his father was involved with several women after his wife’s death. One woman, Jasmer Kaur, was living in the Pandher family home in Chandigarh till Sampooran Singh died last May. He had willed certain properties to her too. It’s only after his death that Jasmer Kaur was evicted from the house by Moninder.

During his interrogation, Moninder kept reiterating that he was a lonely man. But he provided no further insight into why he indulged in acts of sexual perversion and murder. According to clime psychologist Rajat Mitra, Moninder may probably have developed perverse tendencies much earlier in life. "There are definite pathways people take to become deviant or diabolical. It would normally take 25-30 years for a person to reach the stage where Pandher is. He had become too confident that he could get away with anything, even throwing the bodies in the drain.’’

According to Mitra, narco-analysis and brain-mapping cannot be real indicators of a person’s psyche. "Both Pandher and Koli appear to be hardened criminals. It is not easy to access information that such people want to hide even through tests. A person may or may not tell the truth. He may even not be rational.

The narco-analysis tests claim to access another level of consciousness. However, one cannot alter consciousness to gather information that investigators may need. That is why there is no alternate to the age-old process of interviewing, and that too by experts. That is the only way to understand how their mind functions," he explains. What could the Moninder-Surendra relationship be like? Mitra says there seems to be a strong symbiotic attachment. "There is a camaraderie that binds them together. They are not likely to betray each other. For people like them, it is them versus the society. In their mind, they are not doing anything wrong," he says.

Now that the case has been handed over to the CBI, there might be a second round of narco-analysis tests in Bangalore. Also, one of the CBI teams is already in touch with psychoanalysts and crime psychologists to get a better insight into the working of such skewed minds. "We plan to subject Pandher and Koli to psychoanalysis to get to know their motive clearly. So far, they have only been interrogated by the police and not by professionals," a CBI officer told Outlook.

He is hopeful that a clearer picture will emerge in the days to come. As for the families of the victims, the cash and plots offered by the UP government provides little solace. "I do not want either the money or the land. I have one demand: punish the guilty," insists Mukesh Kumar. He learnt of his five-year-old daughter’s death when he saw Surindra Koli admit on television that he had killed her. Other villagers say that their hopes are now pinned on a CBI investigation. They have little faith in the local police. A speedy yet thorough investigation alone can restore their faith in the system.

Other than Nithari..

2007-01-21T13:10:00.000-08:00

The Beer Can Killer

Mumbai police are on the lookout for a psychopath who killed two rag- pickers and a cab driver in the Churchgate area in December ’06. A fourth victim was discovered on January 11, ’07. The killer's trademark: an empty beer can at the scene of the crime.

The Gory Godown

Mirroring the grisly find in Nithari, four decomposed bodies of children were recovered on January 9 from an abandoned godown in Muktsar, Punjab. The godown is owned by Congress leader Jagmit Singh Brar.

The Hyderabad Trio

Pavan, Ramulu and Venkatesh were arrested on January 2 for sexually assaulting young men and then torturing and killing them. The three confessed to nine murders.

In Cold Blood

The murder of Professor Papiya Ghosh of Patna University and her domestic help on December 2, 2006, rocked Bihar. The killing, in a posh colony in Patna, was attributed to a gang of robbers.

The Killer Cabbies

A gang of nine taxi drivers from Gurgaon operated on National Highway 8. They offered lifts and robbed and killed their passengers. The young men arrested on Nov 8-9, 2006, said that they had lost count of the number of people they killed but confessed to at least 35 murders.

Death Of A Teacher

On August 26, 2006, Professor H.S. Sabharwal was beaten to death allegedly by ABVP activists and his own students outside Madhav Post Graduate College, Ujjain. Sabharwal invited the wrath of the students when he announced the cancellation of student body elections.

All In The Family
On July 31, 2006, Sanjay Babu killed his uncle, aunt and their five children at their house in Inderlok, Delhi. The motive: the nephew felt he and his family were being humiliated by his uncle. The alleged killer committed suicide on November 10 in Tihar Jail.

Call Centre Rage

On July 26, 2006, call centre worker Tania Bannerjee was murdered by her colleague near Bangalore. She was killed because she refused to marry him. Tania's body bore 30 stab wounds.

Sleaze And Murder

Kavita Rani, lecturer at Meerut's Chaudhary Charan Singh University, was killed on October 24, 2006. She was apparently involved in a sex and blackmail racket to which senior UP politicians were linked.

Political Bunkum - The much needed ingredient

2007-01-20T18:56:00.000-08:00

When news of the Nithari serial killings in Noida broke last fortnight, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav presented a picture of being as nonplussed as the next man. His brother Shivpal, a senior minister in his cabinet, was more blase, even tactlessly so: "Such incidents do keep happening in the state and many have taken place in the past also. But see, we are taking prompt action," he told mediapersons during his much-delayed visit to Nithari. Shivpal seemed to suggest the Rs 5 lakh compensation was sufficient for parents who had lost their children to the depredations of two serial killers.

This lack of sensitivity, along with reports that betrayed a shocking degree of police apathy in recording complaints of parents who reported their children missing, has made the Noida killings one more issue for opposition parties to cash in on in the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.

Mulayam's defence of the state police and his reluctance to order a CBI inquiry much after the crimes had hogged primetime on TV did not help his cause.

Even the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)—a ruling ally of the Samajwadi Party (SP) till

it pulled out from the government on January 9—is now training its guns on the government for "poor governance and lawlessness". RLD chief Ajit Singh has cited the law and order situation in the state as among his main reasons for parting ways with the SP. Though the RLD has only 14 MLAs in a house of 403, and will not in any way pose a threat to the Mulayam government, Ajit Singh's exit has by all accounts shaken the SP leadership.

In UP, a state where lawlessness is not exactly news, statistics showing a rise or fall in the crime rate has little impact on the average voter. It is the Mulayam government's indifferent approach to crime that has actually converted it into an issue. Nithari is being projected by Mulayam's detractors as a prime example of his lack of concern. That the issue has taken on a political colour is evident from how all opposition parties have trained their guns on Mulayam. Observes UP Congress chief Salman Khurshid: "In Mulayam's regime, criminals get emboldened because they know that they can get away with murder—literally. When the chief minister's brother displayed his insensitive attitude towards the Nithari victims, it did not surprise me at all. That is just the way he is made and human lives carry little meaning for him." Khurshid, who has been spearheading an anti-Mulayam tirade, despite the Congress's continued notional support to the SP government, alleged "total non-existence" of the state in Uttar Pradesh. "There is virtual anarchy and no rule of law in a state that gave India most of its prime ministers," he laments. The BSP and the BJP have also targeted the state government over Nithari. While political pundits in Lucknow predict that the Nithari killings will have a serious impact on the SP votebank, not everyone in the SP shares the same view. They point out that the party's core votebank—Yadavs—will not be impacted. Also that there is still time for the UP elections and by April-May the entire issue could well be forgotten. But will it? There have been far too many shocking cases of police indifference in the state. Not long ago, a young girl, victim of incest and rape by her own father, had to run from pillar to post just to lodge her complaint. The father, a sub-divisional magistrate, continued to hound her until her case was taken up by a woman activist who sought the intervention of high state officials. Even after that, the police could not find the absconding SDM. His immunity was attributed to his closeness to those in power.

Such stories have caught the public attention. Which is why political parties have been targeting Mulayam. Nithari has only reinforced the not unjustified characterisation of the SP government as one not bound by the niceties of the rule of law.

I See Kids and I want to Kill - Surendra Koli

2007-01-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

Noida: The CBI recovered an axe with which Surendra Koli, an accused in the Nithari killings, allegedly chopped up children and women after strangling them in co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher's home.

Koli handed over the axe, concealed in bushes outside the house, to a team led by CBI Joint Director Arun Kumar, official sources said.

The axe, according to the sources, had dried bloodstains on it and was sent for a forensic examination.

Koli had informed CBI officials about the axe during his questioning on Thursday night. He allegedly said he chopped up the children and women with it after strangulating them, the sources said.

He also indulged in necrophilia, allegedly abusing the victims sexually after killing them, they said.

With greater stress being laid on the identification of people whose skeletal remains and viscera were found by the CBI and Uttar Pradesh Police, the agency has roped in noted DNA expert Lalji Singh as a consultant for its probe.

Meanwhile Koli has been telling his investigators that he wants to see children and commit murders — a chilling throwback to psychopath Hannibal Lecter's words in The Silence of the Lambs: "He covets. That's his nature."

Investigators said Koli had killed at least two of his victims using the axe.

"He says he is getting desperate and would like to kill someone," said a CBI official on condition of anonymity. "He speaks at length about children and says he has not seen a child for long. He would like to see children around him. He has often told us that he wants to have sex with someone and then murder the person." Psychiatrist Rajat Mitra said Koli could be feigning mental illness.

The Many Mobs Of Nithari - K.P.S.Gill

2007-01-18T12:56:00.000-08:00

The discovery of the horrific Noida or Nithari killings, followed by the recovery of the bodies of four children from an abandoned mill in Mukhtsar in Punjab in an unrelated case, have dramatically exposed the horror and insecurity that afflicts the children of the poor. These two cases also illustrate the gross distortions in police, public and media reactions to the discovery of such crimes.

It is useful to take the lesser case first. At Mukhtsar, there was no hysteria, no collection of large crowds, no descent, en masse, of attention seeking 'leaders'. The media was there, but briefings by the local Superintendent of Police were competent and created no scope for sensationalism and the whipping up of passions. The area was cordoned off till the arrival of experts from forensic laboratories, who carried out their technical search for clues. At least one TV channel did try to make an issue of the fact that the bodies were not removed immediately, but common sense suggests that a crime scene is best left untouched till all forensic evidence has been lifted, and bodies at the crime scene reveal evidence of the nature and perpetrator of the crime to a forensic examiner. Through all this, the SP clearly explained what the police was doing. The investigation was evidently carried out quietly and professionally; within days, a 'breakthrough' occurred.

The Noida case, by contrast, is a signal example of the worst of possible responses. Five different mobs descended on Nithari: the first was the actual mob of ruffians of both sexes who wanted to appear on TV to secure their 15 seconds of 'fame'. The second was the mob of reporters and electronic media teams, full of conjecture, unfounded theorising and outright invention -- in sum, totally unprofessional, irresponsible and, on occasion, provocative reportage. At one stage, a journalist from a leading newspaper wrote that 'pieces of human flesh' were removed from a tandoor in the house -- a claim that remained un-contradicted for a number of days thereafter. It is impossible to comprehend how pieces of flesh could be identified as human even before any tests were carried out. Once tested, these were found to be fish and meat.

The third was the mob of politicians. A large number descended on Nithari, accompanied by their armies of toadies and security personnel, shedding little light, but adding to the problems of security management in a situation already fraught with tension.

The fourth mob was of various 'experts', including retired police officers, psychologists, and random others, totally unafraid of venturing their opinions on a matter still under investigation, basing their sweeping judgements on media reports which were themselves prejudiced and derived from hearsay and speculation.

The fifth and most unforgivable mob was the rabble of totally unprofessional policemen. Some of them appeared on TV, not to disclose details of the case or the status of the investigation, but simply to give vent to their extreme prejudices. One police officer went to the extent of informing the media that "the Sardarji" had also been arrested, a gratuitous reference to the fact that one of the suspects, Moninder Singh Pandher, was a Sikh, a fact utterly extraneous to the crime or the investigation, and the more unwarranted in view of the consideration that Pandher wears his hair short and is not immediately identifiable as a Sikh. One cannot imagine a comparable situation where a responsible police officer would say that 'the Hindu' or 'the Muslim' or 'the Christian' had been arrested. This display of communal prejudice shows the degree to which police training is deficient, and reveals a deeply bigoted mind, something that would mark a very large number of police officers and men, right across the country.

Far from bringing clarity and authority to the investigations, a stream of statements and unsubstantiated leaks from police 'sources' fed the prejudices of the multiple mobs at Nithari.

Worse, the police failed to effectively seal the crime scene and to protect crucial evidence, often leading media groups in trampling over the location. Despite the slow build-up of tensions and crowds, the police was unable to make adequate arrangements to protect the location, and it was disgraceful to see the supposedly 'frenzied' mob pelting stones and breaking into the house, visibly egged on by the presence of the media, destroying a substantial portion of evidence that may prove crucial in court.

The horror of the incidents at Nithari cannot be underplayed, and the media has a definite role in communicating this horror and in ensuring that investigations are not undermined by corrupt officers and possibly high connections of the accused. But it cannot be the role of the media to prejudge and sensationalise the issue. In the present case, the accused were subjected to a frantic 'trial by media', declared guilty and demonised. I am confident that, had either Pandher or Surinder Koli fallen into the hands of the 'public' in the early days after the discovery of the crimes, they would have been lynched. Published transcripts of the narco-analysis of the accused now suggest that Pandher may have been ignorant of the murders. The media must not become an extension of Bollywood.

Had the many mobs of Nithari not intervened to such effect, the investigations would have been more balanced, quicker and more effective, yielding a rock solid case against the perpetrator(s) of this outrage. More importantly, responsible conduct by the police, media, politicians, 'experts' and public would bring inexorable pressure on the guilty, but would spare the innocent and their families from the trauma of unfounded demonisation.

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KPS Gill is former Director General of Police, Punjab and currently president, Institute for Conflict Management. This piece first appeared in the Indian Express.

Film on Nithari - Dangerous or Commonplace ?

2007-01-17T16:34:00.000-08:00

Director Ashok Tyagi today announced to make a film on the recent serial killings in Nithari, Sahara Samay sources said.

Tyagi said Rajesh Khanna will play the role of Mohinder Singh Pandher and Rajpal Yadav will portray the character of Surender. Tyagi said the film is based on a reporter covering the serial killings and will be named 'D-5'.

It is worth mentioning here that the bodies of children, mostly aged 6-14, were dumped in a drain behind a posh bungalow here that has been home to master-servant duo Mohinder Singh Pandher and Surender Satish.

With more than 40 skeletal remains of children exhumed from the house till Monday, both of them have been arrested for carrying out most terrifying serial crime.

Preliminary investigations have suggested that Pandher, 55, and his servant were habitual sexual offenders where they lured young children from nearby village of Nithari; brought them home, sexually abused them for days together before slaying them in gruesome cold-blooded act.

Curiosity over House of Horrors - JEEZ

2007-01-16T19:12:00.000-08:00

NITHARI: A collective "aah" goes up from a crowd pressing against barricades as police poke at human bones and flesh hidden in drains, investigating a case that has gripped India.

"Dad. Wow. Did you see that? It’s a skull," a girl whispers excitedly outside the bungalow labelled the "House of Horrors" after its businessman owner and his servant were arrested on 17 counts of murder.

The house, now closeted behind huge curtains, has been a hive of forensic activity since December 29, when disemboweled corpses of victims as young as three years old began surfacing from the drains around Nithari village, just outside the capital.

"Sorry dear, that’s just a bowl," explains the girl’s father, Sukhlendu Saha, an executive with a US bank, who drove from their New Delhi home to watch the grisly events unfold.

The "House of Horrors" sits amid a cluster of upscale mansions that today resemble a building site. Police are using excavators to dig up roads and sewers while numerous cars have been smashed up by angry villagers from Nithari.

"I had this urge to see the devil who did all this," Amandeep Singh, a resident of Punjab, said after being drawn to Nithari.

The arrest late December of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and servant Surender Koli has sparked a media and popular frenzy.

Police say Koli has admitted raping children he abducted, having sex with the corpses and even tasting human organs in the belief cannibalism cures impotency.

"It’s gross, man. But we had to check it out," said Dungtsho Chenzon, a Bhutanese tourist. He cancelled a planned trip to the Taj Mahal town of Agra to visit Nithari, some 20km from New Delhi.

"Do we get to see the killers?" asked Chenzon’s young female companion, who did not disclose her name.

Enterprising villagers, mostly unemployed youths, are selling guided tours of Nithari’s drainage network and roadside tea-sellers are doing brisk business.

Criminologists speak of "morbid curiosity" that pulls in a steady flow of bystanders and motorists looking for a glimpse of death.

"It is morbid curiosity that draws crowds to disaster zones," Arun Bhagat, former chief of India’s Intelligence Bureau, said.

"These events are also talking points and those who visit such sites return home feeling superior," he added.

Prominent psychiatrist Achal Bhagat said people were also thronging Nithari for a sense of reassurance.

"People are trying to reassure themselves that this can happen only to a different kind of people and will never occur in their own homes," the psychiatrist said.

"As long as it is different and distant you feel less afraid," he said.

"Also, this curiosity about cannibalism has attributed tourism status to Nithari and hence this intense level of visits," he added.

Also flocking to the site are poor people looking for their missing children.

"My son went missing in April 2005, I have searched all over the city, put adverts in newspapers, reported it to the police ... where else do I go, except here?" said Delhi resident Geeta Pal, holding up a photograph of her 18-year-old son, Rakesh.

"Everyone who has come here believes this house where they butchered children is where the search for our own lost children will end," she said.

Desperate mothers and fathers handed out 35 statements containing detailed descriptions of when and where children disappeared, complete with photographs and telephone numbers.

Families deny accusations by some police officials they are just chasing compensation being offered by the local government.

"We are not interested in money. This is just what they say so they don’t have to look for our children," said Anisa. Two of her children vanished while playing outside her house in nearby Ghaziabad last August.

"Since we heard about the killings, we have been camping here outside the house hoping someone will tell us something," said Rani, whose three-year-old son disappeared two years ago when he went to buy toffees from a neighbourhood shop in Noida.

In India nearly 45,000 children are recorded as missing every year, according to the National Human Rights Commission, more than 11,000 of whom are never traced.

"I have been from Amritsar to Mumbai and from Haridwar to Jaipur looking for my son, Manbir, who disappeared on his way to school in October 2004," said Joginder Prajpati.

"We have seen politicians ... and all the big people come here to get publicity, but no one has spoken to us or asked us what our problems are because we are poor and don’t matter." – Agencies

Nithari Is Not An Isolated Incident - Kiran Bedi

2007-01-15T12:48:00.000-08:00

The transcript of BBC Hindi special programme Aapki Baat BBC Ke Saath with the first and highest ranking woman police officer of the country, Kiran Bedi, presently the Director General of Bureau for Police Research and Development.

Nagendar Sharma: Can the people of the country expect that the Nithari incident would prove to be an eye-opener for the Police department?

Kiran Bedi: We can only hope that such an incident should serve as an eye opener, but let us all not forget that it is easier said than done. Police in India does not function independently. It serves its masters. The crude reality to be kept in mind is that their masters are not the poor people of the country. We should also not forget that Executive has been called one of the pillars of democracy, but in practice in this country it is run by the whims and fancies of the Legislature. Therefore the question that I would pose to the country is: Who would come forward to take the responsibility of opening the eyes of the police?

Nagendar Sharma: Having spent more than three decades in the police department, what or where according to you is the the root of the problem?

Kiran Bedi: The root of the problem is that policing in India is not for the common man. Policing in India has unfortunately been reduced to providing force for VIP security and for traffic regulations. For the common man, the police force throughout the country continues to be inadequate. Look at the figures of crime rate even in NOIDA where the latest incident has taken place and compare it with the police force available for 24 hours patrolling.

Arshad Ali (father of one of the Nithari victims) : My 14 year old daughter is missing since 2005. I have been to the police station many times, I have pleaded with them, but I have not got any answer. How can the police give an answer when my child is not alive? I have not been allowed to enter the house of the accused. Where should I go?

Kiran Bedi: Well, the Nithari incident has exposed the inherent flaws in our police functioning— for the first time all of you are seeing the inefficiency of the police. This has been made possible by the tremendous visual impact of this heart-rending incident, which has been seen by the people of the country through TV visuals, newspaper photographs and also the radio coverage. Nithari has shown that even at a stone's throw distance from the national capital, the police does not have the resources to maintain law and order. It is a harsh fact that NOIDA police did not even have the means to register the complaints of all of the parents, leave alone what they could have investigated. This is the reality and till the time police reforms, as directed by the Supreme Court recently, are implemented, such incidents cannot be stopped. I am sorry to say this.

Listener from Hyderabad: Madam, in our country it is very difficult for the common man to get an FIR registered in a police station. This gives a feeling that policing is still a legacy of the British Raj in India. The common man does not get to interact with the IPS officers, therefore should there not be special training for the lower-rung police personnel?

Kiran Bedi: Well, the constabulary and lower ranking police personnel come from lower middle class backgrounds and it is not that they are not aware of the problems of common man or that they are insensitive from recruitment onwards. It is the general atmosphere which turns them insensitive. Transfers, promotions and the urge for medals is the reason behind their so-called insensitivity. Can the common man give them these? The obvious answer is NO, therefore they start serving the interests of those who can give them all these benefits.

Let us remember that police is being controlled by political masters and influenced by the rich. Since their masters are someone else, how can they be faulted for having an indifferent attitude towards the poor?

This is the general trend. You may still find exceptions who would be sensitive, but it is a reality that sensitivity is missing in general. Therefore till the time mindsets of the police personnel are changed, nothing can be done. The mindsets can only be changed if you empower the common man and that would happen only if reforms as directed by Supreme Court are implemented, which clearly say that transfers, postings and promotions should be done on recommendations of the security commissions. Such commissions would include the chief minister, leader of the opposition, and independent eminent citizens and all of them would take a decision. Similarly, at the central level, it is proposed that this commission would comprise of the home minister, leader of the opposition and independent eminent citizens. If the security commissions are formed and they work, we would definitely see a positive change.

Sanjo Devi (mother of a missing girl from Nithari) : Madam, I went to the police many times and I was rudely turned away each time. I have spent more than fifty thousand rupees in search of my daughter, neglected other two children in search of my first child and police finally told me to go and find my daughter myself. What can I do?

Kiran Bedi: I fully understand the pain of this mother, and the answer given by the police was a standard answer that anyone would get when you go to lodge a complaint for missing people. The question is: Did we prepare a police force in the country which could be humane and sensitive enough to such situations? Nithari is not an isolated incident, but an example of how police generally deals with the complaints of disappearance. The important thing about this case is it has unmasked the police functioning in the country. The fact is that development, which means setting up multi storey buildings etc, is the priority of governments today. Even if we were to wake up and demand for more police force today, it would take at least three years to provide trained police personnel. It is clear the providing adequate police force is not on the priority list of governments in India. For recruiting and quality training, you need resources, which the governments in India are not ready to provide.

Nagendar Sharma: In the existing police set-up, do you think a Nithari type incident could have been avoided?

Kiran Bedi: Nithari is a clear-cut case of supervision failure by police officers from station house officer (SHO) upwards. The concerned officers failed in analysing the reason for disappearance of children, despite repeated pleas from concerned parents. This failure led to a crime of unimaginable proportions. There is no doubt that responsible police officers should have been alert, which was not the case here. Lack of planned thinking and resources, both led to a miserable police failure.

Listener from IIT Kanpur: Madam, my firm belief is that police in this country works on bribery and out of fear. Nithari would not have been investigated if the media did not highlight it. Is there any hope for the common man?

Kiran Bedi: It is a reality which you have pointed out. I fully agree with you that only the issues which are highlighted would be investigated. In my view the biggest contribution of Nithari is that it has, for the first time, brought the police functioning in our country into limelight. From here, I appeal to the people of this great country to be organised and at least ensure that they vote for governments which would promise police reforms and implement them.

This is a very good opportunity and people should not allow it to pass.

Sita Devi (mother of another missing girl from Nithari): Madam, the NOIDA police told me that I should have kept my daughter under control and they said my daughter might have run away with someone and could return in future. Whom do I trust?

Kiran Bedi: Look, the answers given by police in each of the three cases that I have heard from parents so far are similar, this is because policing in India is not for the common and poor people. This is a stark reality which stares us in our eyes. The police neither has the resources, nor the training or willpower to serve the common man. Till the time police reforms are implemented throughout the country, as directed by the Supreme Court on 11th January, it would not be possible to stop a repeat of Nithari .

I have been noting that in backyard areas of the national capital—Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and NOIDA—the problem is that governments are trying to maintain law and order through poorly run police posts. We should be very clear that ramshackle police posts cannot cope with the ever-increasing influx in these areas from all parts of the country. Till the time full fledged police stations with high ranking officials and modern machinery are used, it would be difficult for the common man to lead a safe life.

Nagendar Sharma: What are the options for common people to deal with the police?

Kiran Bedi: Firstly: as far as possible, no complainant should go alone to lodge a complaint, if possible. Secondly, the complaint should be followed up and if no action is being taken, the higher official should be informed in writing. Thirdly, the public should demand computerisation of police functioning to remove the role of human pen. Nobody could refuse a complaint, if it was sent electronically or even through phone, as the records would remain there. I stress that police functioning in the country would only turn pro-people if police reforms as directed by the Supreme Court are fully implemented in the country. Security Commission at the centre as well as in all states for promotions, transfers etc alone can ensure participation of common people in policing by making them stake holders. Since, presently, police resources are limited, therefore they are directed in favour of the rich. Till the time resources are increased and evenly spread, the poor would continue to be ignored.

Time Bound Probe - huh ??

2007-01-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

The following is the text of the letter written by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and MP, Brinda Karat, to union home minister Shivraj Patil on … regarding the gruesome killings in Nithari village.

I WRITE to you in connection with an aspect of violence, which has come into the forefront after the terrible Nithari killings in Noida. As is known most of the victim children belonged to very poor migrant families mostly from Bengal, Bihar and eastern UP. Their extreme economic vulnerability and social and cultural isolation was brutally reflected in the utterly callous if not criminal indifference of the administration to their complaints. Unfortunately the administrative attention usually given to these social sections enhances the stereotype of the migrant as the ‘criminal’. The social realities of their existence, which are quite the opposite of their portrayal as the aggressive criminal, are ignored. While this particular case of serial murders and sexual abuse of children has been exposed, the number of parents, belonging to a similar social category, who have come to the region in search of a living and who often live in the most appalling conditions. The women usually work as domestic helpers in neighbouring colonies. Children are left to fend for themselves and become vulnerable targets to criminals. Sensitisation of respective administrations and governments to the specific problems faced by these communities is essential.

I request you to call a meeting of home ministers of states in the NCR region to discuss measures to identify and specifically monitor areas where these poor migrants live and to ensure their complaints are properly dealt with. The police stations in such areas should have a special mechanism to monitor all cases of missing children and adolescents for periodic assessment of status of the cases. I am sure you will agree such a policy specifically geared to protecting the security and well being of migrant communities in the NCR region will help to avoid the recurrence of the Nithari nightmare.

As far as the specific case is concerned now that a CBI inquiry has been ordered, though belatedly, the country expects a time bound probe which will bring out the truth behind the terrible killings including an investigation into the suspected links with an organised gang involved in the organ trade. I seek your positive intervention in ensuring a time-bound probe by CBI.

Yeah.. right. We believe you Maam. This is what we pay taxes for and recite the National Anthem and Vote for, right ?

Somebody Has to fight for Accused

2007-01-13T18:00:00.000-08:00

New Delhi, January 13: With the Noida Bar resolving not to represent Nithari serial killings accused Moninder Singh Pandher, Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal, today appealed to the lawyers to “rein in their emotions and bear in mind the right of accused to get legal aid”.

“In any legal case, even if it is of a heinous nature like the Nithari killings, lawyers cannot refuse to fight for the accused... they have to learn to control their emotions,”Justice Sabharwal said.

Speaking to the media at his residence on his last day in office, the CJI said: “As a man of law, I cannot imagine any Bar passing a resolution by which members will not appear for the accused… put yourself in the accused's position,” Justice Sabharwal said. Legal aid is needed more so, if the accused is being framed, he added.

In this context, the CJI recalled the transfer of the Jammu and Kashmir sex scandal case by the Supreme Court to a Chandigarh court following the denial of legal aid to the accused by the J&K Bar Association.

In contrast, Justice Sabharwal reminded, accused in cases like the Indira Gandhi assassination and the Jessica Lall murder “got the best of the lawyers”.

"If the lawyers of a local Bar refuse to represent the accused due to the heinousness of the crime, the only option left is to transfer the case to some other locality... this adds to the difficulty of the accused," the CJI said.

In the same breath, he even gave a "useful" piece of advice to judges.

“Judges in this country will rise above media's opinion and decide the case after weighing the material evidence available," he said. This, he felt, was required for judges specially when questions are being raised on "trial by media”.

"It will be Doomsday if convictions are based on media opinions," he said. However, he also praised the media for rendering "considerable help to society". He cited the Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case, in which the appeal was held up for six years before it was highlighted by this newspaper and resulted in fast-track disposal

Most Nithari victims were from the Dalit community

2007-01-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

And now, after Politics takes centerstage post-Nithari, it is time for the RELIGIOUS angle to make it's much-awaited entry, here.

The other Nithari's

2007-01-12T16:53:00.001-08:00

Muktsar killing case - This one has not made too many headlines, apart from being tagged with the Nithari label.. here's an update on an arrest made in connection with the gruesome "rice mill" case.
number of children dead - 4

Perhaps this is the prime reason as to why Muktsar has received scant attention. See ? Even the media is out there to capture the "big fish" and a glaringly political angle to it and not the pain. shame shame.

A certain Fear Factor has gripped parents of children who have been missing, here is one story of a Bhopal mother's reaction after Nithari.

According to sources, Nanda had come to know about heinous activities of Moninder and Surinder. This led to her killing. - Valuable angle to Nithari investigations

This article pinpoints the legal stand on the case.

Hyderabad "Nithari" -
nine bodies so far in Hyderabad...and more to come.. all this for money ? I dont think so.

Nithari could have been averted..

2007-01-11T16:12:00.000-08:00

IF the State Government had shown willingness to bring about police reforms.

The two losers, Moninder and Surinder, are in police custody till the 25th. It will be interesting to watch as corruption and connections try their level best to reduce Moninder's punishment.If my feelings are in place, given the current plethora of information (and mis-information), Moninder will receive a lesser punishment and Surinder will be made the scapegoat.

Isn't it ironic, this education system ? You belong to an esteemed institute where you are taught the ways of life and it's people. Shouldn't you therefore being equally, if not more accountable for committing a crime in comparison with your partner, who is illiterate and mis-informed ?

It is angering and more, when people try defending Moninder by saying "he is a Stephanian, he is therefore not capable of murder".. what absolute RUBBISH.

Organ Trade Angle in killings

2007-01-10T16:02:00.000-08:00

How police can discover "missing organs" amongst a bunch of scattered bone fragments is beyond me.

Speaking of which.. * once again the system fails the people... or... the people fail the system.. it's all cyclical anyway.

Compensation is yet to be paid, not like that will heal the wounds.

My uncle just returned from Nithari, this is what he had to say -

"The Nithari Scenario is in bad shape at the moment because political parties are using it to play ball with the media arclights. The vote situation is being given precedance over and above crisis management, which is obvious to the layman. Before the tragedy took place, Nithari was just another cramped slum area which had the distinction of being full of outsiders i.e. non-hindus.If all the victims of the Nithari tragedy were Hindu, you'd see immediate police inquiries etc. If this had occured with a bigshot, say an actor or someone with similar status, apathy would be unheard of. Anyhow Ponch (that would be moi), don't worry.Moninder is a cunning bastard who will use his connections to get off scot-free. The servant will probably see a fate similar to Dhanonjoy and after he is dead and gone, the case will be re-opened and the public sympathy vote will be sought."

So there you have it. A first-hand account from one of the top ranking officials in the Indian Government (im sorry i can't mention his name).

News Update for the Day

2007-01-10T04:40:00.000-08:00

As suspected (and as is obvious) the Nithari case is being increasingly politicized by all and sundry, who completely disregard the fact that mass murders and the loss of young lives do not in any way, give a damn about "the vote bank".

However, Mr.Venkaiah Naidu of the BJP (ah that lovable party) feels differently.

'The outcome of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh will be a turning point in national politics. It will herald the rise of the BJP and decline of the Congress,'' Naidu told journalists here.
''The Nithari killings should not be politicised,'' he asserted while alleging total failure of law and order.
Hello ???

That was a half-second contradiction. But that is what Indian politics is turning out to be, inconclusive,irrelevant and juvenile.

...and the blame game begins !

2007-01-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

Noida: The gruesome serial killings in Nithari village, Noida have become the reason for much political mud slinging and debate.

Everyone has rushed in to grab a piece of the publicity pie, but in the process have conveniently forgotten the CBI probe into the matter - a probe that the Mulayam Singh government had promised nearly four days ago, after facing a lot of flak.

The blame game has begun, with the Central Government saying that the notification they had received was not properly formatted and the state government alleging that the Centre was simply holding things up.

After bashing the Centre and other Opposition parties for politicising the Nithari killings, Samajwadi Party leader, Amar Singh, had said, "I want to know where is the CBI. I am deliberately asking this after four days of us announcing a CBI probe because I know that the Centre has taken no action."

But, what he seems to have overlooked when he made the statement is that the Centre received no notification for a CBI probe from the Uttar Pradesh government till Tuesday.

And the letter that finally did arrive was in the wrong format. It was a letter simply requesting the Centre for a CBI probe and not notifying the Centre, as it ideally should have been.

The procedure is that the state sends a properly formatted notification to the Centre. Upon receiving the notification, the Centre publishes it in the gazette and thereafter, the investigation is formally handed over to the CBI.

And all of this can be done in a day's time. The blame game has begun with the state blaming the Centre and vice versa.

UP Home Secretary, R N Srivastava says that the delay is from the Centre's side. "We had sent in the letter on a Saturday, a weekend, so the Centre will only be able to process it on Monday."

The CBI had a different story to tell. Says CBI Director, Vijay Shanker, "I have no information of a CBI probe in Nithari."

After having faced a lot of criticism over the shoddy way in which the initial investigations were handled, a proper notification was finally sent out by the Mulayam Singh government late on Tuesday night.

The format being talked about is nothing new and neither is the state government unaware of it.

But the four days spent in the blame game has ensured vital investigation time lost.

Meanwhile, the Noida Police has extended the remand period of both the accused till January 10.

Organ Trade Theory plausible

2007-01-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

New Delhi: The organ trade theory behind the Nithari serial killings has got bolstered after the police revealed on Monday that the knives recovered from Moninder Singh Pandher's house in Sector 31, Noida, were all surgical implements.

A senior police office investigating the case also told journalists on Monday that the bodies were disposed of in a manner in which hospitals purge their waste, showing clinical precision in the entire operation.

The new evidence could point to thriving organ racket behind the Nithari killings, a senior police official said on Monday. Police also suspect that some 'influential' people may be involved in the racket. The chief medical officer of Noida had earlier hinted at such a racket when he detected that the bodies were cut up with 'medical precision’.

The police investigators have also revealed that the bodies were neatly stored in packets and probably treated with chemicals to prevent accumulation of bacteria and emission of foul odour.

Interestingly, even though Moninder's house is located in a plush neighbourhood surrounded by many other residences in close quarters, the locals never got a clue of the barbaric activities or complained of any foul odour in the neighbourhood even though the bodies had been disposed of in a roadside drain right next to the house.

On Tuesday, Nithari was also abuzz with rumours that Moninder's manservant Surendra may have had an acid container on the rooftop of the house where he had dissolved the torsos. This may be a possible explanation for the missing body parts of some of the victims, locals say.

The police investigators recovered some more skeletons from the house of horror in Noida on Tuesday. A piece of leg bone was recovered from a drain flowing next to Moninder's residence.

The bone has been sent to the local district hospital for examination. It was not immediately clear whether the bone was a part of the skeletons dug out by the police near Moninder's house or whether it was a new discovery. The police team has been searching the stream for more skeletal remains.

Meanwhile, an inspector of Noida police was suspended on Tuesday for laxity in the probe. In all six police officers have been suspended and six have been dismissed until now for dereliction of duty.

Inspector Shivraj Singh Yadav was in charge of the investigative proceedings in Nithari.

All eyes on nacro-analysis

The police are now banking heavily on the results of Moninder Singh's narco-analysis test, which is likely to be conducted in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The police investigators feel the results of these tests could be used as corroborative evidence to prove his involvement in the serial killings. The results of these tests are, however, not admissible as evidence in a court of law.

Lie detector and brain-mapping tests on Surendra Kohli were completed on Tuesday, but experts at the Forensic Science Lab in Gandhinagar say that they are waiting for all the tests to be completed before they come to a final conclusion.

Sources say that the during the lie-detector test, Surendra was asked almost 40 questions connected to perversion and cannibalism. The initial tests on Moninder reveal that he was aware of the murders that allegedly took place inside his house in Sector 31.

The police and the experts at FSL are trying to wrap up the tests on Tuesday as the remand for the accused comes to an end on January 11, when they have to be produced in court.

The police will need to analyse the evidence along with the experts at FSL so that they can convince the court that they need an extension of their remand to examine the suspects further.

Savagery and Media apathy

2007-01-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

The savagery and butchery that was discovered in the bungalow of Moninder Singh Pandher is difficult to describe in words. The fact that a human being could subject young children to acts of physical and sexual violence and then butcher them without remorse, places question marks not only on the perpetrators, but also on the justic system for their apathy and lack of procedural knowledge while investigating the case.

From inconsistencies in the statements of both Moninder and his man friday, Surendra, to insensitive statements by political bigwigs who passed the incident off as "trivial", the Nithari case is fast becoming a political ball that is being passed on while the media takes and makes note of all that is "newsworthy".

The cries of the parents of those raped and killed are being heard after 2 years. Why ?
Why is the age-old theory of "prevention" being better than "cure" not being followed?

Never to be forgotten ..

2007-01-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

The children who suffered at the hands of the infamous D-5 killers will never be forgotten. Hopefully.
The media glare is strong as the story is "hot" and garnering phenomenal trp's. This is a tribute to those in who's memory this blog has been created.

Jyoti Lal
Age – 10
Missing since – June 20th 2005

Harsh Kaushik
Age – 3
Missing since – Feb 23rd 2003

Deepali
Age – 12
Missing since – July 18th 2006

Aarti
Age – 7
Missing since – September 25th 2006

Nisha Thapa
Age – 11
Missing since – July 24th 2006

Max
Age – 8
Missing since – April 27th 2006

Bina Haldar
Age – 13
Missing since – March 15th 2005

Rita Sarkar
Age – 18
Missing since – August 30th 2006

Rachna Lal
Age – 8
Missing since – April 10th 2006

Rimpa Haldar
Age – 14
Missing since – (2 years)

Madhu Veer
Age – 20
Missing since – Nov 12th 2006

Shekh Raja
Age – 9
Missing since – Dec 24th 2004

Payal Lal
Age – 5
Missing since – June 20th 2006

Pushpa
Age – 10
Missing since – April 19th 2006

Ginni Bedi
Age – 9
Missing since - March 18th 2006

Mohit Kumar
Age – 14
Missing since – Dec 16th 2006

Vikram mandal
Age – 9
Missing since – March 2006

Pankaj shukla
Age – 18
Missing since – May 23rd 2006

Hardev Singh
Age – 16
Missing since – August 8th 2006

Payal
Age – 26
Missing since – May 7th 2006