Patna, Dec. 30: A 25-year-old student preparing for competitive exams was today found murdered in his room in a residence turned into a lodge at Tripolia under Alamganj police station. His throat was slit.

Nine students had hired seven rooms on the ground floor of the two-storeyed house. The victim, Abhay Kumar, was one among them. The landlord, Akhileshwar Prasad Sinha, lives with his family on the first floor.

Abhay is the third youth to die under mysterious circumstances this week. Patna University student Dilip Kumar was found murdered in Saidpur Hostel No-2 on Tuesday. Vikas Kumar’s hanging body was found in his lodge on Monday.

Sources said Abhay, hailing from Jitkaiya village of Vaishali, had been staying in the rented house at Tripolia for more than six months. He was preparing for competitive examinations and used to take English tuitions from a private tutor in the Sabzibagh area.

Abhay, an introvert, had gone out on Thursday afternoon to meet a distant relative. Police sources said a person had come to meet him last night at around 10.

“All the boys living in the lodge have a common key to the main door. Abhay received a phone call and after a while, someone came to meet him. He had used his key to open the door and let the person inside. According to statements of the other youths, the person stayed at Abhay’s room for a long time and no one saw him leave as everyone had fallen asleep by the time he left. The police believe that this person, whoever it is, has something to do with the murder. It is obvious that Abhay was well acquainted with the person. The matter is serious and the police are conducting investigations at the moment,” an officer of Alamganj police station said.

“According to information, Abhay was living in the room for more than six months. When some boys found his door locked from outside this morning, they opened the door to find him lying on his bed in a pool of blood. His throat been slit, there was blood everywhere, even on the walls. The police was informed and the body was taken to Patna Medical College and Hospital for a post-mortem,” the officer added.

No weapon was found in the room, though. The police said the cellphone records of Abhay would be checked and all the boys residing in the lodge would be quizzed.

Roshan Kumar, Abhay’s friend, who lives on rent in a residence-cum-lodge at Bhootnath Road, said he came to know about the incident from one of Abhay’s family members.

“I got a call in the morning and rushed here. This is shocking. I don’t have an idea as to why would someone kill him so brutally? He was always a quiet boy,” Roshan said.