The body of Anindita Das, a first-year MA (Bengali) student of Calcutta University, was found beside the railway tracks near Khardah station on Sunday night.

According to police, Anindita may have been pushed off a running train.

Her father Dhananjay, a vegetable-seller in Naihati, alleged that she had been killed by her boyfriend Pavel Das, a resident of Serampore. The two had gone out on Sunday evening. Pavel is absconding.

Traders at Khardah station said they saw Anindita walking around with a youth on platform No. 4 till late on Sunday. Some of the traders said they saw the couple walking along the railway tracks.

The body was spotted by local residents along the tracks leading to Sodepur around 11.30pm.

“We are in the dark about the motive behind the murder,” said an investigator.

“We knew about Anindita’s relationship with the youth but did not take the matter seriously,” said Dhananjay.