Nithari Killings - Main Witness backtracks

The main witness in the Nithari killings, Nand Lal, on Thursday retracted from his statement by giving a clean chit to the prime accused Moninder Singh Pandher.

Pandher is one of the main accused in the case.

Nandlal, father of one of the victims, retracted his statement about witnessing Pandher paying bribe as a cover-up bid.

Moreover, he also cleared the name of co-accused Noida Police CO Dinesh Yadav.

He also said that Pandher did not help in recovering the saw.

Deposing before the court, Nand Lal denied his statement that the saw was recovered from the bathroom of Pandher's house in his presence and that it had been used for "cutting" up the victims.

In a turn-about from his earlier statements, he said that no bribe had been paid to DSP Yadav by Pandher's manager in his presence during the probe which was carried out by CBI.

Nithari killings: non-bailable warrants against two cops

Ghaziabad, Aug 16 (IANS) A special court here Thursday issued non-bailable warrants against two suspended officials of the Noida police for allegedly taking bribes to botch up the case relating to the Nithari killings in which at least 20 children and young women were raped and murdered.

Dinesh Yadav, then circle officer, and V.P. Singh, then station house officer, face arrests for allegedly accepting bribes from S.K. Sharma, employee of prime accused Moninder Singh Pandher, to conceal and destroy evidence.

Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli had been arrested last year after the recovery of at least 20 human skulls from a drain behind Pandher's Noida bungalow Dec 29.

Hearing the case of 24-year-old Payal, one of the victims, judge Rama Jain of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court found both suspended officials "prima facie accused" for concealing the case diary.

"After hearing the testimony of Payal's father Nand Lal who saw the official accepting bribes, the court finds them prima facie accused in the case and issues non-bailable warrant against them," the judge said.

The court has asked the Ghaziabad senior superintendent of police to produce them on or before Aug 29.

It was Payal's murder that had led to the unravelling of the sex-related butcheries in Nithari village in Noida, adjacent to Delhi.