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Updated: Apr 20, 2019 06:49 IST

Three men were killed and another injured after an autorickshaw in which they were travelling overturned upon ramming a divider on Mathura Road in south-east Delhi, during the early hours of Friday.

According to the police, the auto driver, who was allegedly speeding, lost control of the vehicle while trying to simultaneously clean the windshield while driving. He fled the spot following the incident but was tracked down and arrested.

The three men who died were identified as Ram Singh (40), Dev Raj (23) and Ashok (18). Police said all of them were Uttar Pradesh natives and used to live at Nehru Nagar in Lajpat Nagar. They were returning from a catering job at a party in Jaitpur, the police said.

The New Friends Colony police said they received a call around 1.15am about a speeding auto crashing into a divider. “When a police team reached the spot, an overturned three-wheeler was found. The injured had already been taken to Apollo Hospital in the police control room vehicles. On reaching the hospital, we found that three men who were riding in the auto were dead, while another man, 25-year-old Amar Singh, survived with injuries,” a police officer, who is not authorised to speak to the media, said.

Singh was seated in the front, with the driver, the police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said that Singh’s statement has been recorded. “He said that the four of them work as caterers on a contract basis. He said they were returning from one such contract in Jaitpur (when the incident took place). Singh alleged that the driver was driving rashly and at a high speed,” the DCP said.

Singh told the police that despite their repeated warnings, the auto driver did not slow down. “He said that soon as they reached a traffic signal on Mathura Road, the driver took out a cloth and started cleaning the windshield. As he was speeding, he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a divider. The auto fell and all of them were injured,” Biswal said.

The officer said that the auto driver was identified as Vijender Kale. “He was traced with the help of the vehicle and arrested within hours. “He was booked for rash driving and causing death due to negligence,” he said, adding that CCTV footage from the accident spot is being checked to see if any other vehicle was involved in the incident.

Ashu, sister of Ram Singh who died in the accident, said he is survived by his eight-year-old son and a wife. “I got a call around 3am, asking me to visit AIIMS. When we reached there, we found that my brother had died. He was the sole breadwinner of the family. His wife keeps repeatedly fainting and is in a state of shock,” she said.

Raj and Ashok used to live in Delhi alone and their families are based in Rampur and Sambhal of UP. Ram Singh’s brother-in-law, Sonu, who is an acquaintance of Amar Singh, said he got married only four months ago. “Doctors said he is out of danger and that his condition is stable,” he said.