India, July 22 -- A second-year student at the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur in West Bengal on Monday choked to death on a pill, officials aware of the development said.

The student was identified by the authorities as Chandradeep Pawar, a second-year student of electrical engineering, and a resident of Madhya Pradesh.

"It is a very unfortunate and rare incident. He was sick and the doctor had prescribed some medicine. After having his dinner at the hostel, he went back to his room. He took a tablet and while swallowing it, the tablet got stuck in his windpipe," said Bhargab Maitra, a professor of civil engineering and the dean of students at IIT Kharagpur.

His friends rushed him to the BC Roy Technology Hospital on the c...