Kolkata:
The only person held responsible so far for the death of a young student activist from Kolkata is a bus driver, who said today that he is being made a scapegoat for a tragedy that nobody is willing to own up to.
Sudipto Gupta, 22, died after being arrested by the police during a demonstration on Tuesday.
The police has denied allegations that it beat Mr Gupta on the head, causing fatal injuries. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has agreed that the death was an accident, which she described as "a small and petty matter," provoking furious reactions from students, the opposition, and Mr Gupta's father, Pranab Kumar Gupta.
Raja Das, the bus driver, has been accused with rash and negligent driving and charged with culpable homicide. He is out on bail.
"I was driving the bus at 40 km per hour. I was not driving in a rash and negligent manner," he told NDTV today. "I don't understand why I was arrested or what my role was," he said.
Mr Gupta's father will meet Bengal Governor MK Narayanan today to demand justice for his son, who belonged to the Students Federation of India (SFI), which is the student wing of the CPI (M).