Neeraj Das alias ‘Kola Lora’, the prime accused in the AASU leader lynching case, died on Wednesday after being hit by a police vehicle “as he was trying to escape police custody”, a senior officer said.

A total 13 people, including Das, were arrested in the last two days in connection with the lynching of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) leader Animesh Bhuyan. “During interrogation, Das had revealed that a big drug consignment was coming... A police team, in its bid to intercept the consignment, was on the way to Mariani along with Das around 2 am. In between, there is a lonely stretch on the Chinamora-Mariani road where Das tried to escape by jumping off the vehicle.