Dhaka, Jan. 6 -- A trader has been assaulted at the main gate of Dhaka's Jagannath University during voting in the university's first-ever central students' union election.

The incident occurred around 9:45am on Tuesday, when Nazrul Islam was attacked by several students amid allegations of "election engineering".

Witnesses said a group of students chased the man while shouting insults. He was later caught and beaten before police intervened and removed him from the scene.

Recounting the incident, a companion of the victim said: "Nazrul and I were heading towards our shop in Banglabazar. Suddenly, several individuals spotted him, called him an 'old man' and began beating him without any provocation."

Some students present at the scene...