A man was beaten to death on the campus of Dinajpur Medical College early yesterday, triggering protest.

Police said the man was suspected to have been a thief but his family and neighbours said he was mentally ill and innocent.

The dead Sohel Rana, of Dinajpur Satellite Town area, was a father of two children. His wife, Swapna, is a nurse at a private hospital near the medical college.

Protesting the killing, people from nearby areas blocked the Dinajpur-Dhaka highway in front of the college for about an hour from 11:00am. Police fired tear shells to disperse them and clear the highway.

Quoting locals, police said Sohel went inside the campus during the sehri time yesterday. However, some alleged students caught him suspected him to be a thief and gave him a good beating, leaving him dead.

On information, police recovered the body and sent it to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy.

As the news spread, villagers from nearby areas descended on the highway and blocked it using logs, said police.

Abdur Rahim, a neighbour, said Sohel was innocent and had been having some mental illness for some time. Earlier, he used to run a battery-run three-wheeler to run his family. 

Sohel's wife Swapna said she had to manage a nursing job after her husband became ill. He could not sleep at all, she said.

Redwanur Rahim, officer-in-charge of Dinajpur Sadar Police Station, said they were looking into the matter.

This correspondent tried to talk to many students of Dinajpur Medical College but none of them agreed to comment.

The victim family was yet to file a case till last night.