Surendra Koli, acquitted in the Nithari case, is found dead in Haridwar
He was cleared by the Supreme Court in November 2025 and had been running a tea stall in Uttarakhand. Police say a first assessment points to suicide; a post-mortem examination will establish the cause of death.
Surendra Koli, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court in November 2025 of the last charge outstanding against him in the Nithari killings, was found dead inside a tea stall in Haridwar on Friday.
Police said a first assessment pointed to suicide and that an investigation has been opened into the circumstances. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination, which will establish the cause of death.
What the police have said
Koli had been living in Haridwar for the past few months. He worked as a security guard before renting the stall, which he had opened only days earlier, and he was found dead in it. The stall stands opposite the Lal Mata temple.
Kundan Singh Rana, an officer of the Uttarakhand Police, said no note was found and that Koli's family in Mangrukhal village in Almora district had been informed.
Sishupal Singh Negi, the circle officer for Haridwar city, set out what had been established by early afternoon and what had not. "Prima facie, it appears that he died by suicide," he said, adding that a forensics team was examining the body and that more would be known when the post-mortem report came in.
The case he was cleared of
The killings came to light in December 2006, when a child playing cricket in Nithari, in Noida, saw a human hand in a drain between two houses. Skulls, bones and children's clothing were recovered when the drain was dug up.
Koli worked as a domestic help at one of those houses. Police accused him of killing children and women. The Central Bureau of Investigation took over the inquiry in January 2007 and built its case on a confession recorded after weeks in custody and on the recovery of a knife and other items.
Courts found that evidence unreliable. Koli was acquitted in twelve cases resting on the same confession, the same recoveries and the same investigation, and a single conviction from 2011 survived them. On November 11, 2025, the Supreme Court set that conviction aside as well, holding that it could not stand once the identical cases had fallen. It said there was "no principled basis" for allowing one conviction to survive, and that letting it do so would be a "travesty of justice".
That judgment cleared him of every charge.
What happens next
Police have described the death as a suicide on a first assessment. The post-mortem report will determine whether that is what happened, and until it is returned no finding has been made.
An investigation into the circumstances is open.
Sources
- The Indian Express — Vidheesha Kuntamalla and Sakshi Chand, updated 18 Sep 2026 2.03pm IST. Found dead in the Bhupatwala area of Haridwar, body sent for autopsy, no suicide note, the tea stall opposite Lal Mata temple, living in Haridwar for months; CO City Haridwar Sishupal Singh Negi quoted on the prima facie finding and the forensics examination.
- Hindustan Times — HT Correspondent, updated 18 Sep 2026 2.04pm IST. Uttarakhand Police officer Kundan Singh Rana on the stall opened days earlier, the previous security guard work, Mangrukhal village in Almora and the family being informed; the November 11, 2025 Supreme Court acquittal, the twelve identical cases, the 2011 conviction, the December 2006 discovery in the Nithari drain and the CBI taking over in January 2007; the travesty of justice and no principled basis quotations.
- Mint — Akriti Anand, 18 Sep 2026 1.56pm IST. Breaking report that Haridwar Police said he died by suicide in the Bhupatwala area, and that he had been acquitted of all charges by the Supreme Court in 2025.
