Surendra Kumar Koli, who was recently found dead at a tea kiosk in Haridwar, seems to have been living under the name "Sada Ram".
After spending 19 years in prison, the Supreme Court acquitted Koli last November. Following his release, he reportedly assumed the new identity of "Sada Ram". Police say he likely used the alias to conceal his past.
He had set up the tea kiosk in Haridwar just five days before he was found hanging inside the shop on Friday. Locals and regular customers knew him as "Sada Ram." Following his death, police recovered his Aadhaar card, which revealed his true identity.
"Prima facie, it seems to be a case of suicide," said Shishupal Singh Negi, circle inspector, Haridwar. More details would follow after the postmortem, he added.
Koli, a Dalit from Mangaru Khal village, in Uttarakhand's Almora district, worked as a domestic help at the house of Noida-based businessman Moninder Singh Pandher. He was accused of being a "cannibal" who would allegedly lure children to Pandher's house, kill them, and "eat their flesh". Pandher and Koli were arrested in 2006.
After his acquittal, following a long legal battle, he had landed a job as a security guard for around 10 days in the Sidcul area of the town. He quit the job when the employer asked for his Aadhaar card.
Meanwhile, Almora-based social activist Narayan Singh Rawat, who had been helping Koli's family during the trials, said he suspects his death was a murder.
Rawat had helped Koli set up the tea kiosk by paying him Rs 25,000. "I was in regular touch with him and had recently lent him money to start a tea kiosk, which he had taken on rent from a local resident linked to a political outfit...Over the phone a few days back, he had complained of harassment. They're asking for more money, he told me," Rawat told TOI.
Koli is survived by a daughter, a teenage son, and his former wife, who remarried after moving to a relative's home in Haryana following his arrest. His daughter married around the time he was released from prison last year. His mother died in 2022, and his younger brother resides in Almora with his family.
The younger brother told TOI, "I was in regular touch with my brother over the phone. But he never shared anything that was bothering him."
