The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the Allahabad High Court acquitting Surendra Koli – a death row convict – in 12 cases of rape and murder that took place in Nithari village, Noida, bordering with Delhi in 2005 and 2006.

A bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan issued notice to the convict and others and tagged the matter along with other pending matters relating to the cases.

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During the brief hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, argued that Koli was a serial killer, who used to lure young girls and kill them.

The Solicitor General said that the killings were “gruesome” and told the bench that there were accusations of cannibalism and the trial court had awarded the death penalty to Koli, but the same had been reversed by the Allahabad High Court.

Earlier, the top court had sought response from the Uttar Pradesh government and others on an appeal by one Pappu Lal, father of one of the victim girls, challenging the High Court order acquitting businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and Koli.

The Allahabad High Court had in October last year acquitted Pandher and his domestic help Koli in some of the cases concerning the Nithari killings and overturned the death penalty imposed on them by the trial court.

It had acquitted Koli in 12 cases and Pandher in 2 cases, where they were earlier held guilty for murder and awarded the death penalty by the trial court in these cases.

The CBI had registered 16 cases against Koli and Pandher over rape and killing of girls that had shocked the nation.

The case came to public attention in December 2006 when skeletons were discovered in a drain near a house in Nithari village, Noida. Pandher was the owner of the house and Koli was his domestic help.

Koli was made accused in all of the cases on various charges including murder, abduction, rape, and the destruction of evidence. However, Pandher was named in six of them.

Koli was convicted of committing multiple rapes and murders of various girls and was sentenced to death in more than 10 cases.