Kolkata:
Thousands of people gathered this afternoon outside the Kolkata office of the student wing of the CPI(M) to pay tribute to Sudipto Gupta, the 22-year-old activist who died last evening from injuries he received after he was arrested during a protest against the West Bengal government headed by Mamata Banerjee.
His body will be brought to his party's office before he is cremated. An autopsy report is expected later today.
Students say that after Mr Gupta was arrested, he was beaten on the head over and over by the police, which disagrees. Police officers have said that Mr Gupta was put on a bus along with other arrested students and that he was leaning out of the bus when he fell and hit his head on a lamp post.
The chief minister 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. "A lot of my people have died in moving trains... people with their heads out (of the window)." She added, "Any death is very unfortunate, and this one is too."
The State Human Rights Commission today asked the Kolkata Police chief to investigate Mr Gupta's 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 andcharged with culpable homicide, the alleged result of rash and negligent driving.
"My son had a haemorrhage and died within three hours. He fell beside the bus and was beaten up by the police. He was killed. Is this justice?" cried Pranab Kumar Gupta, the student leader's father.