Sector 36: Who is Moninder Singh Pandher? Know all about the accused who was set free, despite charges of cannibalism and murder in the Nithari case

They say reality is stranger than fiction, and when you see cases like Nithari, you know that the statement holds all the truth in the world. The case was laced with blood and the smell of human flesh. It was a human act that reeked of satanic fumes. In 2006, the whole nation was shocked when the real story of cannibalism from Sector 36, Noida came out.
For the unversed, the Nithari case, also known as the Nithari serial killings, involved the disappearance, sexual assault, and murder of children and young women in the Nithari village of Noida, Uttar Pradesh. In 2005 and through 2006, it was noticed that many children and young women were disappearing from mostly poor families in Nithari. Though the families tried to file an official report, no one paid much attention to the case initially. However, in 2006 this case took a massive turn when human skeletal remains were found in House D-5 in Nithari. This house belonged to a wealthy businessman - Moninder Singh Pandher, and Vikrant Massey’s latest project - ‘Sector 36’ chronicles the incidents of this gruesome crime.
Who is Moninder Singh Pandher? (trigger warning: mention of cannibalism ahead)
As the investigation unfolded in the Nithari case, Moninder Singh Pandher was labeled as the co-accused. However, for many, he was the main man behind the killings, and the heinous crimes took place under his roof, his luxurious Noida house. Moninder Singh Pandher owned the D-5 bungalow in Noida’s Sector 31, the place where reportedly 16 children and many young women were raped, murdered and mutilated. Singh is a wealthy businessman, who inherited a transport empire and led a life of luxury. Moninder Singh Pandher was a womanizer and pedophile, who in the absence of his wife, indulged in heinous crimes. According to CBI, it was his servant Surinder Koli, who brought the children and women home and then used to rape and murder them. In his confession, Surinder Kohli admitted that he enjoyed consuming human flesh, especially of young women.
According to an India Today report - “The two (Moninder Singh Pandher and Surinder Koli) were charged with rape and murder and sentenced to death in the killings in Nithari, Noida, which horrified the nation with details of sexual assault, brutal murder and hints of possible cannibalism.”
Why was Moninder Singh Pandher set free?
Despite all these charges, Moninder Singh Pandher was set free last year. Reports suggested that the Allahabad High Court acquitted him as the prosecution failed to prove guilt “beyond reasonable doubt” and that the investigation was “botched up”. On the other hand, Koli is serving a life sentence for the case.