Caretaker in plant nursery kills friend, hangs himself from tree

GREATER NOIDA: A 38-year-old caretaker of a nursery was allegedly killed by his co-worker who later committed suicide by tying a noose to a tree and hanging himself.

The Habitat Garden Nursery and Farms, where the crime took place, is in Raipur Khadar village on Pusta road in Sector 126.

The two deceased have been identified as Chotan (38) from West Bengal and Pawan from Chhattisgarh. Both lived in separate rooms in the nursery while their families lived in their respective hometowns. They had been working in the nursery for past eight years. “I had given two separate rooms to Pawan and Chotan and another caretaker, who is currently at his home in West Bengal. All three were friends and used to live together. I don’t know what happened between them that led to the death of the two,” said the owner of the nursery, Vijendra Singh.

Their bodies were spotted by a worker of dayshift when he came to work around 9am. “I knocked at both the gates of the nursery, but nobody replied. Later I peeped into the nursery from a grille at the back and saw Chotan’s legs. It seemed he was sleeping. I immediately called the owner and told him about the situation. He asked me to jump over the wall since they were not opening the gate. As soon as I jumped in, I saw Chotan lying on the ground with blood spilled around his head while Pawan was hanging from a neem tree,” said Sharda, a worker at the nursery.

Singh informed police about the deaths around 10am. “A police team along with forensic experts examined the spot. We have sent the bodies for autopsy,” said Uday Pratap, SHO, Sector 39 police station.

The SHO further added that a sharp small axe like tool was found on the spot that may have been used to murder Chotan. “Prima facie, it appears that after an altercation between the two in the morning, Pawan allegedly killed Chotan and hanged himself. However, we are still investigating the matter. The family members of the two were asked to reach police station. No case has been registered so far as no complaint was filed,” he added.