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According to his mother, the boy went with a friend of his from the same village. “He told my son that a Rs 10,000 scholarship application had to be filled online and asked him to come along,” she claimed. The victim, who had recently passed his matriculation examination, climbed onto the friend’s motorcycle and left. He never returned.

Nearly 24 hours later, after frantic searches by the family and relatives, police recovered the teenager’s body from beneath thick layers of water hyacinth in a water-filled pit in neighbouring Khagaria district on Wednesday night.

Investigators now suspect the killing was the fallout of an earlier cybercrime case and a resulting simmering rivalry.

Begusarai police on Thursday said two persons had been detained in connection with the abduction and murder, while raids were underway to apprehend the other accused.

According to the officials, the father of the deceased approached police on Wednesday, alleging that his son had been abducted by six persons from the village “due to previous enmity”. Several of those named in the FIR are minors.

The family’s suspicion first turned toward the friend who went with him. According to relatives, CCTV footage from near the victim’s home showed the suspected friend taking him away on a motorcycle shortly before he went missing.

“When we questioned him, he initially denied everything,” the victim’s brother said. “But after we mentioned the CCTV footage and said we would name him in the case, he started revealing details.”

Police said the suspect was brought in for questioning after the complaint was filed. During interrogation, he allegedly confessed to his involvement and told investigators that the teenager had been handed over to another person, who has been made the main accused in the case.

“In the course of interrogation, the main accused admitted his involvement and said the victim was killed due to previous enmity,” an officer said.

A police team later reached the spot along with the accused and recovered the body from the waterlogged area late Wednesday night.

On February 10, the brother had filed a complaint alleging that a fake Facebook profile had been created in his name and used to upload objectionable content involving women and girls from the village.

In his written complaint to police, he had said, “I have been defamed in my village. Villagers are holding me responsible.” He further alleged that objectionable photographs involving women from the village had been uploaded using the fake account, creating tension in the locality.

Sources claimed that the accused arrested in that case was the same person who was identified as the main accused in the murder case.

According to the victim’s family, the man was released on bail around a month ago and had allegedly threatened retaliation after his arrest.

During questioning, investigators reportedly learned that the teenager was taken to the Ballia area, where the main accused was already present. The victim was allegedly assaulted there before being killed. His body was later transported to Khagaria district and dumped in the water-filled pit, police reportedly learnt.

The body was sent for postmortem examination on Thursday morning before being handed over to the family.

Begusarai police said further raids were being conducted under the supervision of the SDPO (Sadar-1) to arrest the remaining accused. “Necessary legal action is being taken,” police said.