Vikrant Massey starrer Netflix’s Sector 36: Decoding the Nithari killing case; Who is Surinder Koli accused of cannibalism?

The plot of the Netflix original movie, Sector 36, is based on the Nithari Killings case in Noida, Uttar Pradesh which happened in 2006. Names of the people mentioned in the film has been changed to protect identities. The movie, directed by Aditya Nimbalkar and written by Bodhayan Roychaudhury and has Vikrant Massey in the lead role and Deepak Dobriyal plays the role of Inspector Ram Charan Pandey.

What is the Nithari killings case?

In Nithari village which is situated right in the middle of Noida city in Uttar Pradesh about 20km from Delhi this heinous crime happened. But what was surprising was that what took so long to deliver justice to the families whose children and some women went missing mysteriously? Didn’t cries of these families reach the ears of the police or was it just ignored because these people came from poor, migrant labourer families.

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The disappearance of young women and children haunted Nithari families for almost two years from 2005 through 2006.  According to reports published in Lifestyle Asia, which states that Jhabbu Lal and Pappu Lal, two inhabitants of Nithari, found human remains near a water tank behind a certain house (more on that later). They claimed the remains were of the children who had mysteriously vanished from the village. Apparently, many Nithari residents had reported the disappearances of their children many times earlier but were ignored by local law enforcement officials.

When their complaints went unheard, they approached SC Mishra, a former president of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA). With his help, they found a decomposing hand and then only the final investigation started and a huge search operation started. A huge number of body parts were retrieved from in and around the village of Nithari. The case involved allegation of rape, murder, abduction and dismemberment of especially children and women.

It was one of a kind case of brutal murder, rape and cannibalism. The people involved were Moninder Singh Pandher, a wealthy businessman and his servant Surinder Koli. The police arrested him and his servant Surinder Koli. During interrogations, Koli confessed as shown in the Netflix’s film Sector 36 that he gave details of how he killed these women and children and even eaten their flesh. Koli confessed to his crime and described in details how he committed them. He also mentioned that he loved to eat human body especially young women. Pandher was a womanizer and a pedophile and these heinous crimes were happening in his house.

The final verdict

According to reports published in Lifestyle Asia which stated that on 12 February 2009, Moninder Singh Pandher and Surinder Koli were convicted for the murder of Rimpa Haldar in 2005 by a Ghaziabad court. Both received the death sentence on 13 February 2009, in a case deemed “rarest of rare.” Koli was subsequently sentenced to death for multiple other murders. Pandher’s conviction was overturned by the Allahabad High Court on 10 September 2009. The Supreme Court of India upheld Koli’s death sentence in February 2011, but it was later commuted to life imprisonment due to delays in his mercy petition. Koli was sentenced to death again in subsequent convictions, with the latest in 2019.

The Hindu report stated, “Nithari Killings is nothing short of a betrayal of public trust.” Sadly, on 16 October 2023, the Allahabad High Court acquitted Moninder Singh Pandher and Surinder Koli of all charges related to the serial killings, 17 years after the crimes were uncovered.

About the Netflix’s film _Sector 36_

Produced by Dinesh Vijan’s Maddock Films and Jio Studios, the film traces the story of a once-complacent police inspector who is on the heels of a devious serial killer when justice becomes personal as several children go missing from a basti (slum) in Netflix’s Sector 36. Inspired by true events, Sector 36 is directed by debutante Aditya Nimbalkar.

WATCH the trailer of Vikrant Massey starrer Netflix’s starrer ‘Sector 36’ here:

(With added inputs from agencies)