Four killed as truck rams into car on Yamuna E-way; truck driver held

Greater Noida: Four people were killed and three others sustained injuries after a trailer truck allegedly broke through a divider on the Yamuna Expressway and went on to collide with a car coming from the other side late Sunday night, officials said on Monday, adding that the driver was later arrested.

According to police, some commuter informed the police at around 10.10pm on emergency number 112 that a truck and a Baleno car carrying four people had met with an accident near the 36-km point of the expressway, prompting a Jewar police station team to reach the site.

The incident also damaged a motorcycle and a small pickup truck that were behind the car, leaving both their three occupants with minor injuries, said officials.

Police identified three deceased as Ritesh Pandey, 50, an advocate who worked and resided in Delhi along with his son Avishar Pandey, 30, and Vikas Gupta, 35, worked in a corporate job in Noida and also resided there. All three were originally from Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh. The fourth was identified as car driver Vijay Singh, 35, from Rajasthan.

Officials said all four deceased were travelling back to Delhi-NCR from Maharajganj. “The people travelling in the car were going from Mathura towards Noida, while the trailer was travelling from Noida towards Agra. The four people travelling in the car were taken to a nearby private hospital, where doctors declared them dead,” said Ravi Shankar Nim, deputy commissioner of police (Greater Noida), in a statement on Tuesday.

The bodies were sent for post-mortem examinations, and their families were informed, officials said.

Meanwhile, the three other injured were identified as Sumit, 20, and Sachin, 25, both residents of Agra, who were travelling on a motorcycle, and Bhushan Kumar Singh, 22, a resident of Rampur, the pickup truck driver, said police.

Sachin remains hospitalised, while Sumit, who also lodged the FIR, and Bhushan Singh have since been discharged, officials said.

Officials said the car was being followed by the motorcycle and the pickup truck. The collision’s impact left occupants of the two vehicles also injured.

An investigating officer, requesting anonymity, said that it is suspected that the truck driver may have been tired or sleepy when the accident took place. “The truck completely broke the divider and came to the other side. We suspect this to be a case of negligence. The truck driver was travelling alone. We believe the four occupants of the car died on the spot,” the officer said.

The truck driver was taken into custody on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday after he returned to the spot, officials added.

Ritesh Pandey’s brother Aayush Pandey, who arrived from Maharajganj, said, “I learnt about the accident at around 11 pm on Tuesday. I am here awaiting the results of the autopsy report.”

Based on the motorbike driver’s complaint, a case was registered at the Jewar police station against the driver under sections 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 106(1) (causing death by negligence), 324 (mischief) and 125(b) (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, officials said.

The incident caused long queues of vehicles on both sides of the expressway as the damaged vehicles remained on the road. Police later cleared the vehicles and restored traffic movement, officials said.