Identity of 5 Nithari victims still a mystery

Over four years after the grisly Nithari killings came to light, the identity of five of the victims, whose bones were found in a drain in Noida, remains a mystery with their DNA profile not matching with any of the claimants.

The forensic experts were able to create DNA profile of 13 individuals from the fragments of bones and bio-material collected in over 35 polythene bags near Moninder Singh Pandher's house in Noida on Delhi's outskirts, out which eight victims were identified.

Hundreds of tests were done as a number of parents had claimed that their child was missing but mismatch of DNA led to rejection of the claims in the remainig five cases.

Sources in the agency said that these five DNA profiles and the skeletal remains will be soon handed over by the forensic department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Pandher's domestic help Surinder Koli has been sentenced to death in four cases so far and his capital punishment has been upheld by Supreme Court as well. The sources said that they would preserve the DNA profiles and the bones for more time till a claimant comes forward.

The Nithari killing case was uncovered on December 27, 2006 when skulls and bones of missing children were discovered. As the pressure mounted, the Uttar Pradesh  government decided to hand over the inquiry to the CBI, four days after the gruesome murders came to light.

Koli and Pandher were arrested on the night of January 11, 2007. The investigators found three skulls, believed to be of the children and several body parts, including parts of legs, bones and torso. Several objects were found that are believed to belong to the victims.

On February 12, 2009, both Pandher and  Koli were found guilty of the murder of Rimpa Haldar, 14, by a special sessions court in Ghaziabad and sentenced to death as the case was classified as "rarest of rare". Pandher, however, had not been not named in the chargesheet.

Koli has also been sentenced to death in the cases of Arti Prasad, 7, Rachna Lal, 9, and Deepali Sarkar, 12. While on February 15, this year, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Koli, the Allahabad High Court acquitted Pandher on September 10, 2009. Pandher faces trial in five cases out of the remaining 12.