The photojournalist had gone to take pictures for a story there, after a girl student was found hanging in her room this afternoon, police said.
Objecting to his taking pictures of some other students in the campus, the professor allegedly manhandled the photojournalist, they said.
When contacted, IIT-Madras Director Bhaskar Ramamurthi said, "It was a mistake. Even if the students had objected to (his taking) the picture, there is a way of saying that. The professor should not have done this (manhandling the photojournalist). It was certainly a mistake on the professor's part."