Noida (U.P.): In a gruesome discovery, police today found skeletal remains of at least eight children who are believed to have been sexually abused before being murdered in this industrial town on the outskirts of Delhi.

The suspected serial killer Surender alias Satish, a domestic help, has been arrested along with his master Mohinder Singh Pandher, a factory owner from whose house the skeletons were found in gunny bags.

The victims appeared to be among some 38 missing children from the Nithari village in Sector 31 of this western UP town in the past one year indicating that the number of those murdered could be much higher.

Senior Superintendent of Police R K S Rathore said the 30-year-old domestic help from Almora in Uttarakhand confessed to killing six children and a 20-year-old girl Payal by strangulating them after sexual abuse. Surender had lured the children, under 12 years, by offering sweets and toffees.

Investigations were on to find out the role of his employer Pandher who owns a factory here and in Chandigarh.

The saga of the missing children came to light when when the skeletal remains were recovered from a drain abutting the house of Pandher. The remains were found in gunny bags.

Not far away from this area, the kidnapping of Anant Gupta, a nursery student and child of a multinational executive, last month made news headlines. The child was recovered after a ransom of Rs 50 lakh was paid.