Three school students have been arrested on charges of assaulting a 35-year-old autorickshaw driver and driving his vehicle away at Chengalpattu on Monday evening. The driver died of heart attack later, police said. Police identified the deceased as Dilip Kumar of Hanumantha Putheri at Chengalpattu.

On Monday, Dilip Kumar was returning home around 6 pm on Bharathiyar Street. Three students in uniform, studying Standard XII, were going on a two-wheeler in a rash manner. They brushed against the autorickshaw. Dilip Kumar chased them and confronted them. The verbal duel resulted in fisticuff and the three allegedly assaulted him with logs on the roadside.

One of them drove away the autorickshaw after pushing down the driver, a police officer said. Passers-by alerted Chengalpattu Town police who reached the spot. Dilip Kumar came to police station and lodged a complaint and said he was feeling dizzy and suffering from chest pain. He was taken to a government hospital at Chengalpattu where he died on Monday night.

Doctors said he suffered a heart attack due to the assault, said a police officer. The autorickshaw was later found abandoned at Alapakkam. The students who were charged with assault and theft were arrested and sent to government observation home, police said.