Surendra Koli spent 19 years in jail, escaped gallows. Now, found dead

Surendra Koli spent 19 years in jail, escaped gallows. Now, discovered dead The Dalit man from Uttarakhand was branded the 'Nithari cannibal' who allegedly lured children into his employer's house in Noida and killed them.

Key points

• Koli was a Dalit from Mangru Khal village in Almora district of Uttarakhand, and had been working for Pandher since July 2004.
• The main accused in the gruesome Nithari killings of 2006 had defied 13 death sentences and escaped a near-certain date with the gallows.
• On Friday (September 18), he was discovered hanging in the small tea stall that he ran outside Lal Mata temple in Haridwar, police stated.
• For a full two decades, Surendra Koli was a branded man.

Koli was a Dalit from Mangru Khal village in Almora district of Uttarakhand, and had been working for Pandher since July 2004. (Express Photo/File).

For a full two decades, Surendra Koli was a branded man. Then, on November 13, 2025, he walked to freedom – after the Supreme Court passed an order of acquittal in the last of the 13 cases against him. Less than a year afterwards, Koli is dead.

In practice, the main accused in the gruesome Nithari killings of 2006 had defied 13 death sentences and escaped a near-certain date with the gallows.

Taken together, the developments around surendra Koli spent 19 years in jail, escaped gallows. Now, found dead point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.