Kolkata student's death an accident: Mamata Banerjee

The SFI is the student wing of the state's opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). "This (Sudipto Gupta's death) is an accident. It is not due to police atrocity," Banerjee said.

Meanwhile, the Kolkata police said the young leader had suffered head injuries after hitting a stationary blunt object. Joint Commissioner of Police Jawed Shamim said: "The death was due to head injury and ante mortem in nature."

"The injuries are consistent with hitting a stationary blunt object," he said. The West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) on Thursday announced it will hold an inquiry into the death of the SFI leader.

"We don't have any faith in the police as we all know that the SFI leader died in police custody. Which is why, we have decided to carry out our own investigation. A three-member team will conduct the inquiry," said a WBHRC official.

Meanwhile, the Left parties held demonstrations across West Bengal, including Kolkata, on Thursday to protest against Gupta's death.

Commuters faced troubles as traffic jams were reported from different parts of Kolkata as the SFI and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) conducted 15-minute road blocks on Thursday.

Gupta died during a police action in Kolkata at their law violation protest on Tuesday.

The police said Gupta died after he was hit by a lamp post while alighting from the police van in which he and other protesters were being taken away after arrest.
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