No takers for properties in posh areas around the site of the gruesome killings

Realty bites Nithari

No takers for properties in posh areas around the site of the gruesome killings

Blood and gore may sell movies but not property.

The fact is most evident in Nithari, a part of Noida's posh Sector 31 that made headlines in December 2006

when the skeletons of a number of women and children were unearthed in the area. A local businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surender Koli were arrested on suspicion of murder and subsequently booked. Both later received death sentences in one of the several cases against them; Pandher's sentence was later overturned by the Allahabad High Court.

In 2006, the land prices in Sector 31 were between Rs 40,000 and Rs 45,000 per square metre. Four years later, it's almost status quo. In comparison, the rates in Sector 30 have reached Rs 85,000 per square metre, beating the slowdown.

"In the past few years we have hardly had any takers for the plots in Nithari. Even though it's a prime area in Noida. When Pandher and other high-profile people built their mansions here, we were expecting prices to go up, but as the Nithari scandal came to light the area became infamous, pushing away buyers," said Vijay Chauhan, a property dealer from Noida Sector 25.

"No one is ready to buy kothis in this area as the term 'Nithari' has become synonymous with murder and horror. Prices of other adjoining sectors have been going up. There was a slight correction during the economic crisis, but things improved later. Prices in Sector 36, which is next to Nithari, is somewhere between Rs 65,000 and Rs 80,000," Chauhan added.

The killings have not only led to a drop in prices, but have pushed the area backward.
"There are only a few kothis in Nithari and the rest of area has been encroached upon. Instead of market places and community centres, the sector has become a slum. Instead of bungalows, unauthorised constructions have mushroomed. Noida is home to professionals, businessmen and retired personnel, but after the incident, the area was ignored by everyone," said Rajiv Sharma, associated with the property site

Koli guilty

A special CBI court on Tuesday held Surender Koli guilty of the murder of seven-year-old Aarti, one of the 19 young women and children from Noida's Nithari village whose body parts were found in a drain. Arguments for the quantum of sentencing will be held on Wednesday.
Of the 19 cases of abduction, rape and murder, the CBI has filed chargesheets in 16. All the cases are being heard separately.

Noidaghar.com.

Even locals deliberately address themselves as residents of Sector 31, instead of using the term Nithari.

"I never say I stay in Nithari, neither do others, as it creates a bad impression. A lot of people came to see the house of horrors, at D-5, Sector 31, but they have started associating the area with the crime, so we have adopted this approach," said Sanjeev, who is a state-level body builder and a bouncer at a nightclub.

Rs 40,000-Rs 45,000 Rate of land (per sq mt) in Noida Sector 31

Rs 85,000 Rate of land (per sq mt) in Noida Sector 30

Rs 80,000 Rate of land (per sq mt) in Noida Sector 36

Skeletons in the closet

Dec 29, 2006 Human skulls, skeletal remains in gunny bags were found in a drain behind bungalow number D-5 in Noida's Sector 31. Pandher and his domestic help Surender Koli arrested on charges of rape and murder.
Dec 30u00a0 More skeletons found.
Dec 31 Uttar Pradesh police ordered a high-level probe.u00a0
Jan 1, 2007 Policemen and villagers clashed over the gory killings. Police questioned Pandher's family in Chandigarh.
Jan 2 The remains of the victims were sent to the forensic labs in Agra and Hyderabad.
Jan 3 The central government appointed a four-member panel to probe the killings. Then chief justice Y.K. Sabharwal rejected the demand for a CBI probe.
Jan 4 The UP government rejected the demand for a CBI probe.
Jan 5 Nithari villagers came out on the streets.The Uttar Pradesh government finally ordered a CBI inquiry.
Jan 9u00a0 More skeletons found in the drain behind the bungalow.
Jan 10/11 The CBI took over the probe and took custody of documents.
Jan 13 CBI officers found more human remains from two drains.
Feb 13 The CBI said bones were of four women and 15 children. The Uttar Pradesh police had already registered 19 cases.
March 1 Koli recorded his confessional statement in a Delhi court.
March 22 The CBI gave a clean chit to Pandher but indicted Koli as a cannibal, charging him with rape of 20-year-old Payal.
April 10 The CBI filed second charge sheet in the killing of 20-year-old Pinki Sarkar. Koli charged with abduction, rape and murder. Pandher spared again.
April 24 Third charge sheet filed in the killing of five-year-old Payal. Koli charged, Pandher again spared of killings.
Feb 12, 2009 Special CBI court convicted businessman Pandher and Koli for raping and killing 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar.
Feb 13 Pandher, Koli sentenced to death for raping and killing Rimpa Haldar.
Sept 11 Allahabad High Court acquits Pandher in the Nithari serial killing case, setting aside the death sentence awarded to him by a lower court.
Jan 07, 2010 The Supreme Court stayed death sentence of Koli.
May 04 A Special CBI court convicts Koli for the murder of Arti, 7, one of the 19 young women and children killed.