Noida killings: UP govt panel probing police lapse

A two-member high level committee of the Uttar Pradesh government inquiring into the Nithari killings said on Wednesday it was looking into the alleged police lapses in probing missing persons cases even as parents of the victims said they were dissatisfied with the compensation given to them.

The panel, comprising Home Secretary Arun Kumar Singh and ADGP (Law and Order) A C Sharma, met around 16 parents on Wednesday, including those who have identified their loved ones among the dead.

Later, talking to reporters, Singh said they met the parents as part of their investigation into allegations of police callousness in handling missing persons cases over the last two years.

"An inquiry is on. We are meeting the victims' relatives and other delegations regarding what action the police took on their complaints and whether it was adequate," he said. "We are here to look into the role of the police officials in the matter and we asked the relatives of the victims about which police official they met and what was the response they got."

Singh also promised action against any police official found guilty of dereliction of duty.

Meanwhile, the parents of eight of the victims who were given a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each by the state government on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction with the relief given and met the two-member panel to return the cheques. They were, however, persuaded by the officials not to do so.

"We are not satisfied with the compensation that we have got. We want the government to give us a job and a house," said Jhabbu Lal, whose daughter was among the victims.

He said the parents have also demanded a CBI inquiry into the case and want main accused Moninder Singh's house in Sector 31, where the gruesome killings are alleged to have been carried out, to be demolished and a temple be built in its place in memory of the victims.

"We cannot stand the sight of the house, where our children were killed so cruelly," said Pappu Lal, another aggrieved parent.

Admitting police failure in the case, SSP R K S Rathore said, "We did not get wind of it. But now we are punishing the concerned police officials for carelessness in handling the case."

So far, eight police officials from the area have been suspended in connection with the case.

On the investigation, Rathore said out of the at least 17 persons killed, ten were girls.

He said one of the identified victims is Payal, a suspected prostitute, probing whose kidnapping case police unearthed the skeletal remains in the main suspect Moninder Singh's house in Sector 31.

Payal is the only grown-up victim among those identified so far, with all the other 11 victims being below the age of ten.

DNA samples from the human remains have been sent to the forensic laboratory in Hyderabad for identification of the victims while forensic samples have been sent to the laboratory in Agra for determining the age, cause of death and other details.

Rathore also said the questioning of Maya, who worked as a maid in Moninder's house, had yielded nothing useful, adding the search for a pimp named Neelam was on.

"Although she has no direct role in the murders, we would like to question her," he said.

Asked about allegations of organ trade being a reason behind the killings, Rathore said the interrogation of the accused Moninder and his servant Surendra has not revealed anything to confirm it.

"But we are open to it (organ trade allegations)," he added.

Moninder and Surendra are being taken to Ahmedabad on January 5 for narcoanalysis tests.

"It will help us get more information that will aid the investigation. It will help us understand how the minds of the two accused works," Rathore said.