Lafikul Islam Ahmed was shot dead on Tuesday evening.
Nearly 20,000 people gathered in Assam's Kokrajhar for one last glimpse of a hugely popular student leader - 30-year-old Lafikul Islam Ahmed - president of the powerful All Bodoland Minority Students Union, who was shot dead by unknown gunmen on Tuesday evening.
His family says it was cold blooded murder.
"My brother took the lead role in getting a non-Bodo elected to Lok Saba in 2014; he was threatened that time," Mahijul Isham, younger brother of Lafikul told NDTV.
Lafikul's friends see a bigger conspiracy behind this gruesome killing.
"Lafikul was the prominent anti-establishment voice of Bodoland area. His voice has been silenced. We demand a CBI probe," said Rezaul Karin Darker, general secretary of the All Assam Minority Student Union or AAMSU.
Lafikul was the emerging face of minority politics in Boboland. He was fighting against child marriage to cattle smugglers. Leaders like Lafikul are key to minority assertion in the Bodoland region that has seen several ethnic unrest in past.
After remaining peaceful for over a year, lower Assam's Kokrajhar has once again erupted in protest. Lafikul's supporters protested across lower Assam and blocked key highways.
With protests set to intensify, the Assam government has sent ministers and officials to Kokrajhar.
The circumstances under which the student leader was killed raises many questions that Assam police has to answer.
"There were also lapses from his side. He was given a personal security officer yet he did not take his security along. Police is looking into all aspects," said Assam Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay who is camping at Kokrajhar since Tuesday and monitoring the situation.
So far, one person has been arrested in the case.