Kolkata:
It took nearly two and a half hours for the hearse of Sudipto Gupta, the 22-year-old student activist who died in police custody, to make its way from central Kolkata to the crematorium.
Thousands paid tribute to him outside the office of the Students Federation of India, the student wing of the CPI(M), of which Mr Gupta was a member.
Grief and anger filled the streets of the city as the government denied that he had died after being hit over and over on the head by the police, after he was arrested during a students' protest on Tuesday.
An autopsy report released today said that he had a broken jaw and fractures on his head, as well as injury marks all over his body.
Mr Gupta was among hundreds of students who were protesting against the government's decision to postpone college union elections.
They were forced by the police onto a bus that was meant to take them to jail. Mr Gupta's friends say he was battered by the police till he was unrecognisable. The police claims that he fell out of the bus and hit his head on a lamp-post.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said this morning that his death was an accident, which has infuriated opposition parties, who say her conclusion shows a resistance to a fair inquiry. "Any death is very unfortunate, and this one is too," she said, promising to help his family.
The State Human Rights Commission will investigate the death.
But the CPM wants a judicial inquiry. "The SFI student leader has died in police custody, so the state government is solely responsible," CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said.
The driver of the bus that was taking Mr Gupta and other activists to jail has been arrested and charged with culpable homicide, provoking ridicule from the Left and others, who say he is being made the scapegoat for a clear example of police brutality.