Bhubaneswar, Sept. 26: A 35-year-old woman allegedly died of cardiac arrest and breathing problems here today after students protesting against the cancellation of Utkal University students' union election tried to stop her car.

Tension gripped the campus today after varsity authorities announced the cancellation of the polls for the current year. The agitating students blocked the National Highway No. 5, paralysing traffic for around two hours, to protest the cancellation of the polls.

Jamshedpur resident Suman Sharma, who runs a computer institute at Patia, was taken by surprise when the irate students stopped her car along with other vehicles on the highway that passes in front of the university. She also owned two private hostels in the city.

Eyewitnesses said Sharma, who was driving an SUV, was so frightened by the sight of protesters approaching her vehicle that she fell unconscious while trying to take a turn. She was taken out of the vehicle by breaking the windowpanes and rushed to Capital Hospital, where she was declared brought dead.

People criticised the police for not sending the victim to the nearest hospital. "Though several police personnel were present at the spot, no one bothered to take her out of the car. Besides, there are three private hospitals around the university, but the police sent her to Capital Hospital, which is far away from the spot," alleged an eyewitness.

Earlier, supporters of the students' wings of all three major political parties had locked up the university gates and disrupted vehicular movement on the highway following the postgraduate council's announcement about the cancellation of elections in view of the repeated violence on the varsity campus.

The decision to cancel the election triggered resentment among the students. Council chairman Ranjan Bal said the decision was taken unanimously at the council meeting attended by heads of all the departments.

"There have been three major incidents of violence on the campus. While the police alerted us about the possibility of trouble because of elections, the Lyngdoh Commission guidelines also point out that in such situations, polls must be avoided. While there are major differences among the students' groups, the outsiders' entry to the campus is a major concern. Despite deployment of adequate police personnel, the scalable boundary walls make us vulnerable to outsiders and mischievous elements," Bal said.

Frequent unrest on the campus has led to the cancellation of students' union polls twice in the past four years. Elections were cancelled in the university in 2012 and 2013 before being conducted in 2014.

According to the schedule, the formal notification for the elections in Utkal University was to be issued on October 3 and the polls were to be held on October 14.

Sources said the authorities decided to cancel the polls after receiving a letter from police commissioner R.P. Sharma about the deteriorating law and order situation on the campus.

Student leaders, however, criticised the authorities' decision. "It is the inefficiency of the police and the varsity authorities if they cannot handle the goonda raj on the campus. Why should the students suffer because of their incompetence? We will not sit quiet if the elections are cancelled. We will launch an indefinite hunger strike and the varsity authorities will be responsible for the consequences," said Amit Kumar Jena, a prospective candidate.