Arpan Ghosh, 21, was found hanging in his hostel room on Sunday afternoon. Some students from the institute have alleged that when they took Ghosh to the health centre on the campus, the on-duty staff were late in attending to him. Ghosh was then taken to a private hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Later, a large number of students staged a protest outside Choubey’s office, alleging that Ghosh died because of “medical negligence”.

Facing pressure from the protesting students, Choubey signed a ‘resignation letter’ that was then sent to the Union Ministry of Education. However, it is not yet clear whether the ministry has accepted his resignation. “I did not resign by choice. It is not my official resignation. I did it out of fear as nearly 2,000 students gathered around, shouting slogans. They ransacked my room and removed my name plate from the door. I was forced to sign the letter, written by them (students) and it was sent to the ministry,” said Choubey.

The post-mortem of Ghosh was done at Asansol district hospital on Monday in the presence of his parents and relatives and staff and officials of NIT, Durgapur. The report is awaited, sources said.