— Photos: V. Sudershan

IN THE NET: Mohinder Singh Pandher, a factory owner from whose house skeletal remains of 15 children were recovered on Friday, comes out of Noida Phase-II court on Saturday. At right, his domestic help Satish being taken out of the court. The two were remanded to two days' police custody.

NOIDA: Investigations into Friday's recovery of skeletons of young children from a house here have revealed that businessman Mohinder Singh Pandher was involved, along with his domestic help, in the killings. The Noida police arrested him on Saturday. A local court remanded both of them to two-day police custody.

Three constables and two former circle officers of the Sector-20 station have been placed under suspension for their alleged negligence in handling complaints of missing children.

In the afternoon, the police resorted to a mild lathi charge to disperse a large crowd, which had gathered at Mohinder Singh's house in Sector-31 from where the skeletons were recovered.

Senior Superintendent of Police R. K. S. Rathore said the prime accused Surender alias Satish told the police during interrogation that his employer Mohinder Singh was involved in all the cases of sexual assault on and subsequent killing of the victims.

Mohinder Singh, a native of Ludhiana in Punjab, frequently visited his house in Noida and took the services of sex workers during his stay here. When he could not get them, he along with Surender would lure little children into the house. After criminally assaulting the victims, the two would strangulate them and dispose of their bodies in the gutter near the house, Mr. Rathore said.

Surender even confessed to having sexually abused one of the victims after strangulating her to death.

He allegedly admitted to his involvement in nine cases of sexual assault on and killing of children of Nithari village here. The police claimed to have recovered 15 skulls.

Based on Surender's confession, the police have identified nine victims, in the age group 5-12.

The parents of at least six children identified them with the help of the clothes recovered from two gunny bags found on Friday.

The skeletons would be sent to the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory, Hyderabad, for DNA and forensic testing for further corroboration, said Mr. Rathore.

Surender, who was earlier perceived to be mentally ill, was quite normal and he broke down during interrogation thinking about his three-year-old daughter, who is with her mother in Almora.

Mr. Rathore said sexual abuse seemed to be the only motive behind the murders. "Investigations have not indicated any possibility of illegal organ trade being the reason."

The police had zeroed in on Surender while investigating the mysterious disappearance of a resident of Nithari, in her 20s, and recovered her mobile phone from his possession.

Investigations revealed that the woman, who went missing in May this year, was part of a sex ring.

The police have registered cases under Sections 376 (rape), 302 (murder), 364 (kidnapping for murder), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

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