New Delhi, Nov 1: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the allegation by a relative of the victim in the Nithari serial killings that the investigating agency was trying to shield Moninder Singh Pandher, who is one of the key accused in the case.

Bandana Sarkar, whose daughter Pinki was allegedly raped and murdered by Pandher and his servant Surinder Singh Koli, alleged that the probe agency was trying to shield the accused.

Bandana also sought a direction from the apex court claiming that her husband Jatin Sarkar, who was in possession of the ‘confessional’ statements of Pandher, was allegedly murdered to protect the guilty from being convicted.

The CBI in its earlier chargesheets filed lesser charges on Moninder Singh Pander and named his servant Surendra Koli as the main accused in the case.

Koli has been chargesheeted for criminal conspiracy to kidnap, rape and murder. During his confessional statement, Koli admitted to the killing of Pinki Sarkar.

Koli, who worked as a cook in Pandher's house, where the killings took place, had confessed to the killings during the narco-analysis tests and had even confessed to cannibalism.

Nineteen people, mostly children, were killed at a sprawling bungalow in the industrial town of NOIDA, in Uttar Pradesh in December 2006. (ANI)