Police said the body of the boy, Amandeep Banwait, was found in a ditch near a highway in Khalapur, face smashed beyond recognition. Using a tailor’s tag on the shirt as clue, Khalapur police traced the boy’s family.

Two college boys and a student of Class XII have been held in connection with the murder. Police inquiries reveal they were against the closeness of Amandeep with a girl, said to be the sister of two of the suspects .

Khalapur police had a tough time finding the identity of the victim. “He was in shirt and jeans. Except for a backpack, empty except for some pens and pencils, we found no belongings or any ID on him. Our only clue was the tag ‘Harish Tailor, Mumbai 70’ on his shirt. On the orders of Raigad SP Pratap Dighavkar, a 12-member team left for Mumbai. On contacting the local police, we learnt that Vinoba Bhave police had registered a complaint that one Amandeep Banwait had been missing since May 18,” said inspector Hindurao Padhalkar.

The complaint had been registered by Sahebsingh Banwait, saying his son Amandeep, a class 10 student, had not returned home after tuition.

Police enquiries with residents of the neighbourhood led them to the suspects. “Some residents told us they had heard of an affair between Amandeep and the cousin of two of the suspects. They said they had seen him and the girl’s elder brother warning Amandeep to stay away from her,” said Padhalkar.

Fahad, his brother, reported to be a minor, and their friend Salim have been held. “We arrested the three. They confessed that when Amandeep hadn’t paid heed to their warnings, they plotted to murder him. A day before abducting him, Fahad and Salim rode to Khalapur in a motorbike to ‘finalise’ the spot and on May 18, Amandeep was lured into accompanying them for a ‘sightseeing’ trip. He was taken to Khalapur. They have confessed to having strangled Amandeep and smashed his face with stones,” police added.