Darjeeling: An 11-year-old boy from Patna has allegedly committed suicide at a Darjeeling school where he was admitted to Class VI on July 16.

But the parents of Aditya Raj refused to accept that their son had hanged himself at the hostel of Good Start Montessori School on Friday. They filed an FIR on Saturday evening, following which police have started a "murder case against unknown persons".

Located at Chandmari here, the school has classes till Class VIII. The institution was established in 1980 and has 80-odd students.

Saumyajit Roy, the inspector-in-charge of Darjeeling (Sadar) police station, said: "The boy was staying in the school hostel and on Friday evening, he was apparently found partially hanging from a bunk-bed. A gamcha was used for hanging. He was taken to the district hospital where he was declared brought-dead."

The school had five boarders, who stayed at a hostel on the first floor. All the five boys, including Aditya, were from Bihar. They used to share the same room but Aditya apparently committed suicide in the next room which had a bunk-bed.

"We saw the hostel and it is difficult to believe a suicide can be committed from such a height. If anyone is involved in the murder, we will go to any extent for justice," Aditya's father Deepak Kumar said at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri where a post-mortem was conducted.

The principal was not available for comment.

On July 16, the parents had left Aditya at the school. "The school authorities informed us over the phone on July 20 evening that he had made a suicide attempt," the father said.

A school staff member said Aditya had gone inside the hostel room, while the other boarders were playing in front of the hostel on Friday evening. "After some time, a Class V boarder went inside and found him hanging," the staff member said.

Teachers said Aditya had come across as "a smart boy, who was good in English".