The police believe the murder of a 15-year-old girl early on Sunday had a love angle to it and the deceased knew at least one of her killers.

Over 24 hours after recovery of her body, the police said they had identified two of four people named accused by the girl’s parents. But no arrests have been made yet.

“The victim might have had an affair with one of those who killed her. But she had no clue that her boyfriend, if any, and his friends had conspired against her. Beer bottles recovered from the spot prove the men who attacked the girl had planned it all and she just fell into a trap. The cause of death appears to be strangulation but we are awaiting the post-mortem report,” Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Jitender Rana said on Monday.

The SSP found the religious ceremony the girl was attending strange. “How can a religious ceremony, which mostly sees bhajans and sermons, go on until early morning?” he asked. The police plan to interrogate organisers of the function in this regard.

Police sources claim the girl pestered her parents to take her to the function. That has led them to suspect one of the accused, allegedly known to her, might have cajoled her to come to the function.

“Our investigation shows the family of the girl was not willing to go to the function. But the victim was adamant. As a result, her parents and sister accompanied her. It is possible the girl was in a relationship with one of the four attackers, who might have pressurised her to be come to the ceremony so that they could meet. The man (her boyfriend) might have hatched a conspiracy with his friends to take advantage of the girl in the process,” a police officer told The Telegraph.

The girl had twice left the ceremony midway. The first time she left briefly, telling her parents she was thirsty.

The second time, she excused herself saying she had to attend to nature’s call. This time she did not return, the officer said.

The body of the girl, a resident of Mahuabagh under the jurisdiction of Parsa Bazaar police station in Patna Sadar, was recovered from a field, around 500m from her residence, early on Sunday.

“The family of the deceased has lodged an FIR against four unknown persons. Based on the leads, the police identified two of the accused and attempts are on to nab them. They are hiding somewhere in Patna,” Parsa Bazaar police station house officer (SHO) Nandji Prasad said on Monday.

He added: “We cannot comment further at the moment. There is a strong possibility the victim knew one or more of her attackers.”

In another incident on Thursday night, some men had stopped a bike in which a minor was travelling and misbehaved with her at a secluded place under the jurisdiction of Ram Krishna Nagar police station.

The girl initially alleged gang rape but later in a statement before Patna City superintendent of police (SP) Satyaveer Singh, retracted her earlier statement and said the unidentified men had molested and beaten her up.