Surendra Kumar Koli, acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2025 in the Nithari killings case, had been living in Haridwar under the assumed identity “Sada Ram”.
Koli worked briefly as a security guard before starting a small tea stall in Bhupatwala with help from an acquaintance who was unaware of his past.
He was found dead inside the stall days after opening it, with police treating the death as a suspected suicide and investigating the circumstances.
In the final weeks before his death, Surendra Kumar Koli, the central accused in the 2006 Nithari killings who was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2025, was living and working in Haridwar under the assumed identity of “Sada Ram”. His acquaintances learnt his real identity only after he was found dead inside a small tea stall on Bhupatwala Road on Friday.
According to The Indian Express, Koli introduced himself to an acquaintance, Jai Kashyap, as Sada Ram and said he was from Almora and looking for accommodation and work. Kashyap, unaware of Koli’s past, helped him find a room in Roshanabad.
Koli Changed Jobs Before Opening Tea Stall
Kashyap told The Indian Express that Koli stayed in Roshanabad for a few days but left after the landlord asked him to submit identity documents. Koli was reluctant to hand over his Aadhaar card, according to the report.
He later told Kashyap that he planned to move towards Haridwar and run a tea stall. Another acquaintance, Dharmender Kaushik, reportedly rented a shop in his own name and arranged for Koli to operate it.
Police said Koli had arrived in Haridwar around one-and-a-half months before his death. He initially worked briefly as a security guard at a factory before leaving the job. Kaushik subsequently helped him secure another security position through a firm at an apartment complex, but Koli left that job as well.
About three days before his death, Koli reportedly rented a small tea stall in Bhupatwala using Kaushik’s name. He had been running the stall for only two or three days.
Police Probe Death At Tea Stall
According to the report, Kaushik found the tea stall’s shutter closed and received no response when he knocked. He then broke open the shutter and found Koli inside at around 10 am before informing the police.
Circle Officer, Haridwar City, Shishupal Singh Negi said the death appeared, prima facie, to be a suicide. Police said no suicide note was recovered from the spot.
Koli’s body was sent to Haridwar District Hospital for a post-mortem examination. The circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation.
Nithari Killings Case 2006
Koli worked as a domestic help at businessman Moninder Singh Pandher’s House D-5 in Noida’s Sector 31, close to Nithari village, where human remains of more than 15 people were recovered from a drain and the open area behind Pandher’s property in 2006.
Several children and young women had been reported missing from Nithari and surrounding areas. The discovery of skulls, skeletal remains and pieces of clothing near D-5 brought the disappearances into national focus. The property was soon described in media reports as a “house of horrors”.
Koli and Pandher were arrested on December 29, 2006. The cases involved allegations of abduction, sexual assault and murder.
The Uttar Pradesh Police initially investigated the deaths before the cases were transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation in January 2007. The agency subsequently filed 16 chargesheets arising from the disappearances and killings.
The case sparked public anger and set off a lengthy legal fight involving Koli and Pandher. Koli first faced convictions in multiple cases tied to the killings.
He was later acquitted in several cases by different courts. The Supreme Court’s November 2025 order in the final pending matter effectively brought the criminal proceedings against him in connection with the Nithari killings to an end.
