Two uncles of Nancy Jha were arrested in Madhubani on Wednesday, two weeks after the Class VI student disappeared and was later found dead.

Nancy (12) was found dead on the banks of the Tilguda river under Andhragarh police station in Madhubani on May 27, two days after she went missing. Madhubani superintendent of police (SP) Deepak Barnawal said Nancy's paternal uncles Raghvendra Jha and Pankaj Jha were arrested from Mahdevagarh village in Madhubani district, around 180km northeast of Patna, based on circumstantial evidences.

Earlier, the police had arrested Nancy's neighbours Pawan Jha and Lallu Jha for their alleged involvement in her disappearance and death.

Barnawal, who is monitoring the investigation being conducted by a special investigation team led by IPS officer Nidhi Rani, said the role of Nancy's close relatives in her murder could not be ruled out.

He, however, refused to disclose the motive. "Investigation is still on," he told The Telegraph over the phone. "Wait for a few days and the truth will come out."

Nancy's father Ravindra Narayan Jha runs a private school at Mahdevagarh village. Police sources said the day Nancy went missing, her parents had gone to Nirmali to take part in a ritual for the wedding of her cousin and maternal uncle - which Ravindra was opposed to. The wedding was to be solemnised on May 26.

While her parents had gone to Nirmali, Nancy had gone to one of her paternal uncle's home for mehendi. While Nancy's two friends were allowed to go home, she was asked to stay back, raising police suspicions at her uncle's role.

When Nancy did not return home till late in the evening of May 25, Ravindra reported the matter to the police. He alleged that Pawan and Lallu were spotted standing near the place from where Nancy was allegedly kidnapped on a motorbike on May 25. But police sources said Nancy's cousin, who worked in her father's school, developed close relations with her maternal uncle, a teacher at the school. "The police suspect that the victim's cousin and her lover must have hatched a conspiracy to kill the girl," an investigating officer said.

The police officials have denied that Nancy was raped before being murdered. "The post-mortem report suggests she was strangled to death," SP Barnawal said.

Nancy's family has demanded a CBI probe.