A youth accused in a police station arson case was killed in a road mishap while allegedly trying to flee from custody late on Sunday night in Assam, casting a fresh glare on the frequency of similar deaths in the state.

Asiqul Islam, 20, is said to be the 48th person to die in custody since the state’s BJP-led government took charge for a consecutive term in May last year. Before this, a lawyer had put the number of reported custody deaths at 47 while the state government had acknowledged 28 deaths in police action till January 27.

Ironically, the arson case in which Islam was named as a key accused was ignited by another custody death, and was followed by a controversial demolition of the homes of some of the accused.

Nagaon SP Leena Doley said on Monday that Islam had led a police search team to his home at Sonaibari on Sunday night after his arrest earlier in the day.

“However, while bringing the accused back from his house, at Raidingia under Jajori PS, the accused jumped off the police vehicle, trying to escape, but was hit by the police vehicle that was following the vehicle ferrying him. He was immediately rushed to Nagaon civil hospital but was declared dead by the attending doctor,” Doley said. Three police personnel were injured.

Two pistols, along with ammunition and a red T-shirt that footage of the arson suggested that the accused was wearing were seized from his residence, the SP said.

Islam was the second person whose death has been attributed to a road mishap while in police custody. Last December, Niraj Das, the main accused in a lynching, died while allegedly trying to flee from a police vehicle.

Islam was among 11 people arrested so far for burning the Batadraba police station on May 21 in protest against the custody death of a fish seller.

The police claimed Islam was among those who had incited the mob to burn down the police station in Nagaon district.

A day later, the Nagaon district administration had carried out an eviction drive in which the homes of five of the arson accused and those of the deceased fish seller and his relatives were demolished.

The police initially claimed the houses were encroachments but later said they had to be demolished to search for hidden arms. However, residents of the neighbourhood said the affected families had valid land papers.

The Opposition Congress has iterated its demand for a judicial probe into the Batadraba incident following the custody death.

Congress legislature party leader Debabrata Saikia said it was “very unfortunate” that such things are “happening frequently” in the custody of Assam police.

“This is the second such incident in the past 10 days. So, we demand, as we had demanded earlier, a judicial inquiry into the whole Batadraba case,” Saikia said.

He added: “It is very surprising and very shameful that Assam police are not able to keep the accused in proper custody. We have seen many accused die in police encounters while they are being taken for identification or location of the scene of crime. It is very unfortunate.”