Pandher, Koli found guilty of Nithari murder

Moninder Singh Pandher (C) is surrounded by police officers as he was taken to court on the outskirts of New Delhi January 11, 2007, file photo.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A court on Thursday found wealthy businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surender Koli guilty in the rape and murder of a minor girl, one of 19 victims in the most gruesome serial killings in the country in recent times.

Pandher and Koli were arrested in December 2006 after the body parts of 19 children and young women were found packed in 57 plastic bags and buried in the backyard and drains around Pandher's home in Noida.

The case shocked the entire nation and his house was dubbed the "house of horrors" by media.

After a bungled investigation by local police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) ended up blaming the killings on Koli.

While the victims' families insisted Pandher was also guilty, he initially faced only minor charges, including being involved in a prostitution racket and pressuring witnesses.

Pandher had earlier told the CBI he was oblivious to serial killings going on inside his home, saying he had mobile phone records showing he was usually out on business when the killings happened.

But a special CBI court then extended Pandher's charges to include the rape and murder of one of the victims after he helped them recover some human body parts.

"Both were found guilty of committing the crime," a CBI spokesman said in New Delhi. "They will be sentenced by the court tomorrow."

The maximum penalty for them could be death.

While Pandher has been charged with the killing of one girl, the CBI has filed charges against Koli in 16 of the 19 murders.

The victims mostly came from a poor slum neighbourhood near Pandher's home.