By IANS
Ghaziabad : A special court here Wednesday charged Moninder Singh Pandher with abduction, rape, murder and criminal conspiracy, and harbouring his servant Surinder Koli, who has allegedly confessed to killing at least 20 young women and children at their Nithari residence.
Last week Judge Rama Jain of the specially designated Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court had directed the framing of charges against Pandher for abducting, raping and murdering 20-year-old Payal at his D-5 Nithari house in Noida on the outskirts of Delhi.
“The court today fixed new charges against Pandher and now he is booked under the same offences that his servant Koli has been arrested for. Pandher could now be awarded the death sentence if found guilty by the court,” said Khalid Mohammed, counsel for the victims’ families.
“Pandher was charged on the basis of the police case diary in which Dinesh Yadav, then circle and investigating officer, had recorded his confessional statements of raping and killing Payal, a girl who was said to be a prostitute,” Mohammed added.
Pandher had reportedly told police that Payal was blackmailing him and in order to get rid of her, he along with his servant Koli had killed her.
Pandher’s trial will begin from Oct 8, 2007.
Earlier, the CBI had charged him under the minor offence of the immoral trafficking act. On July 2, the court had found suspended official Yadav “prima facie accused” for concealing the case diary and also issued his production warrant.
“After hearing the testimony of Payal’s father Nand Lal who saw the official accepting bribes, the court finds them prima facie accused in the case and issues non-bailable warrant against him,” the judge had said.
It was Payal’s murder that had led to the unravelling of the sex-related butcheries in Nithari village. Noida Police had registered a missing person case on Nand Lal’s complaint in October 2006.
Pandher was arrested along with Koli last year after police recovered at least 20 human skulls and body parts stuffed in 57 polythene bags from the sewer behind their bungalow Dec 29.
Pandher and Koli are currently lodged in Ghaziabad’s Dasna jail.
The CBI, which took over the case from Noida Police, had given a clean chit to Pandher after it did not find evidence against him in the killing of any of the victims.
The CBI had said Koli had allegedly raped and killed 20 children and young women, while Pandher was just charged under the provisions of the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act.