Death of a 15-year-old boy under mysterious circumstances has stumped police.

The boy’s family is claiming he was beaten to death by four of his friends while initial investigation by the policesuggests electrocution as the reason for death.

The body of Nagmani, a Class X student, was allegedly found by his family members from an ambulance in the Karbigahiya area on Thursday.

“According to the allegation made by Nagmani’s family, the four boys came to their house around 7am and asked Nagmani to come with them. When Nagmani didn’t return till 12noon, the family members went to one of the boys’ house to check what happened. When the boy’s family members called on his cellphone, he told them that Nagmani suffered an electric shock and they had taken him to a private nursing home in Mithapur.

“The family rushed to the hospital but couldn’t find Nagmani. They called up on the boy’s cellphone again and this time he said Nagmani had been taken to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). The family again rushed to the hospital but could not find Nagmani,” said an officer.

The officer further said the family members allegedly saw the four boys in an ambulance with Nagmani’s body while returning home from PMCH. “They (family member) said they caught the four boys but one of them managed to escaped. The other three are in police custody,” officer added.

Deputy superintendent of police (sadar) Rashid Jama said: “Nagmani was at one of his friend’s shop on Thursday morning. He was sitting on a freezer and came in contact a live wire. His friends took him to PMCH where he was declared brought dead.”