Ranchi, Aug 27 (IANS): A leader of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) was beaten to death along with his driver by villagers in Deoghar district, police said Tuesday.

Mukesh Singh was travelling in his car late Monday, when his vehicle was stopped by villagers guarding the Rohini Nawadih village, around 300 km from Ranchi, police said.

Police sources said there were two theories related to the killing. First, the leader suspected the villagers to be anti-social elements and did not stop the car when they signalled him to stop.

The villagers, meanwhile, thought Mukesh Singh was trying to escape after committing theft, and chased the vehicle, which stopped at a railway crossing.

The villagers thrashed the student leader and his driver. Both died on the spot. The car was set on fire.

The second theory was that the AJSU leader may have misbehaved with some woman and was trying to escape.

The AJSU had demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.

"This is a political murder. Mukesh was popular in the area and he was killed by hatching a conspiracy. We demand immediate arrest of the culprits and a judicial probe," said Deo Sharan Bhagat, spokesperson of AJSU to IANS.

The AJSU has threatened to call a shutdown if the culprits were not arrested soon.