Professor Sanjay Kumar is being treated at a hospital in Patna

A professor at Motihari Central University in Bihar was allegedly beaten up by a group of people on Friday for his comments on social media that appeared to criticise former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The professor, Sanjay Kumar, said he was dragged out from his third-floor flat and the attackers even tried to burn him alive.

The professor was taken to a nearby hospital, and was later referred to Patna's All India Institute of Medical Sciences or AIIMS for advanced medical treatment as he had suffered serious injuries.

Mr Kumar alleged he was not only attacked for his post on social media criticising the former prime minister, but for also raising his voice against the university vice chancellor's decisions in the past, news agency ANI reported.

"The people, who attacked me were all backed by the present VC. I also received a threat call from the attackers, who warned me to not protest against the VC," Mr Kumar alleged.

A stand-off between the vice-chancellor and some professors started on May 29, after a section of teachers sat on a dharna in protest against the university administration's decisions on reservation and appointment of faculty members.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav criticised the Bihar government over the incident. "What's this going on Mr. CM? RSS goons in direct patronage of RSS programmed VC assaulted & almost Lynched a Professor, they poured patrol to burn him alive," Mr Yadav tweeted.

Mr Kumar's colleague, Mritoyanjay Yadav, said the attack on the professor could be linked to their protest against the vice-chancellor. "The VC had claimed during his appointment that he has a PhD from Germany, but his degree is from a college in Rajasthan. We had exposed it, how our VC has lied," Mr Yadav alleged.