What is the most complicated criminal case solved by an Indian police?
A
lthough Aarushi's case is quite in the news of late, I believe the Nithari killings case was the most complicated case in a long time. Some facts about the case
A spate of disappearances of young girls was seen in Nithari, a place near Noida.
After some residents alleged that decomposed body parts have been discovered at a septic tank, Police in a lax manner did not take cognizance even when there was a clear indication of corpus delicti (presence of a body).
After a lot of agitation, and some suo motu sleuth action by residents, a lot of body parts, decomposed hands etc were discovered. This forced the police to register a case.
It was suspected through hearsay and oral witnesses to the police that a certain Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant surinder koli were probably involved.
After the police took them in, both confessed but later retracted.
Through 2nd degree interrogation, by confronting the accused with facts and related evidence, the accused confessed again and the case was charge sheeted.
Due to the sensational nature of the crime, a lot of hue and cry (understandably) was made in the media, which cast serious aspersions on the role of the police. As such to tide over such allegations, the govt, appointed CBI to investigate the case.
The CBI instead gave clean chit to Moninder singh Pandher, and suddenly Surinder Koli also started giving confessional statements stating that only he was responsible and Pandher was innocent.
However, the sessions court convicted both the accused of multiple murder and sentenced them to death.
10.This irked the CBI as it had given clean chit to Pandher.
Allahabad High Court has acquitted Pandher in some of the cases related to this scandal but judgement is pending on another 5 of the total 12.
The complications in the case included the difficult exhumation of bodies due the large number of killings ( one count says 31) and that they were hidden very professionally.
Further a continuous witch hunt against UP police in media caused a lack of credibility in their investigation and generally in police set up this means supervision by a host of officers. Which meant that the IO was being pulled in different directions simultaneously.
The tendency of media to spin fanciful stories caused a lot of diversion. The media (with some having hidden agendae) would spin stories and possible plots and then castigate police for not taking action. This ultimately forced the govt to hand over investigation to CBI at a very advanced stage causing further confusion.
The motive angle has still not been conclusively addressed. Out of thin air, police first found proof incriminating Pandher as a paedophile and then suddenly there was no proof.
These complicated angles to the case and despite a long time period between killings and actual discovery meant that proving the case against koli and