"Signs of torture" were visible on the body of Russian transport minister Roman Starovoit, according to an independent news outlet - fuelling speculation of a Kremlin cover-up. The 53-year-old was reportedly beaten before his death, which investigators officially labelled as suicide following his sacking by Vladimir Putin.

But new claims from opposition outlet SOTA suggest he may have been murdered - and that his death occurred before his dismissal. The outlet, citing a source who had seen his corpse in the morgue, said: "Fresh traces of beatings were found on the body of former Kursk governor and ex-Transport Minister Roman Starovoit. According to the same source, the medical report indicates that the death occurred earlier than officially announced."

The unnamed source added: "We're talking about roughly a 24-hour difference."

If accurate, it would mean Mr Putin signed the decree removing Starovoit from office after the minister had already died.

His funeral took place in Moscow on Thursday, with burial due in St Petersburg. Putin was absent - and did not send a wreath, despite initial Kremlin claims to the contrary.

State news agency RIA Novosti later retracted its report that a wreath had been sent, calling it a "mistake." Audio of spokesman Dmitry Peskov's earlier confirmation was also quietly deleted.

The timing of Starovoit's death remains unclear. His body was discovered on Monday in bushes near his Tesla in a park outside Moscow - a location with no CCTV coverage.

Initial reports claimed his body had been found at home. That was followed by a statement from the Russian Investigative Committee placing his corpse inside his Tesla Model X P100D.

In fact, independent media outlets later established the body was found several yards from the vehicle, near the village of Romashkovo in the Odintsovo district.

Forbes, citing a source close to the investigation, said Starovoit had died more than a day earlier - "presumably during the night from Saturday to Sunday."

Just 15 minutes after the first reports of his death emerged, Russian MP Col-Gen Andrei Kartapolov confirmed he had died "quite a long time ago." The senior parliamentarian is widely believed to have close links to the security services.

Yet later state accounts claimed he had been at work on the day he died and only left his ministry after Mr Putin signed the dismissal order.

Independent outlet Agentstvo noted "striking inconsistencies" in the official versions of events, which it said had been "constantly changing" since the start.

Starovoit's tearful girlfriend and aide, 25-year-old Polina Korneeva, was brought to the scene by law enforcement to formally identify the body. A medical graduate, she was later driven away in his official Aurus limousine.

The Kremlin said Mr Putin was "too busy" to attend the funeral and appeared to change its line on whether he had sent flowers. Mr Peskov initially claimed a wreath had been sent, but the statement was later walked back.

He said: "As regards the funeral, the president is far from always attending such sad farewell ceremonies... The president has other working events today."