Gardener dies after lawnmower blade accidentally slits his throat in PHQ

A 50-year-old gardener died after his throat was accidentally slit by the blade of a lawnmower when the machine fell on him while he was loading it on a tractor on Wednesday morning at the Delhi Police Headquarters.

According to the police, the incident took place around 8 am when officials deployed outside the police headquarters’ building saw the gardener collapse. They rushed to his help assuming that he had a heat stroke. Eyewitnesses told police that everything happened in just 39 seconds.

The deceased identified as Afsar Ali, a native of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, was being put on a stretcher, when the officials saw blood oozing out of his neck. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, police said.

According to police, after working on the lawn for some time, Afsar was moving to a different park outside PHQ. He along with two other PWD employees were trying to load the mower on a tractor when accidently the machine fell on Afsar and his neck got damaged by one of the blades. 

On the other hand, police are scanning through the CCTV footage of the incident and speaking to the eyewitnesses to know more about the death. Afsar was an employee of PWD’s horticulture department and used to commute on train between Delhi and Bulandshahar daily. He is survived by his wife and two children. The PHQ building is owned by the PWD which takes care of its maintenance.

Police have registered a case under sections 304 A of the IPC. Meanwhile, Afsar’s relatives have been informed.