Jamshedpur, April 2: Relatives and acquaintances of television actress Pratyusha Bannerjee refuse to believe that a jovial person like her, whom they had known since she was a young girl, could commit suicide and have demanded a thorough investigation into her death.

Pratyusha, who shot to fame nationally after she essayed the role of Anandi in the TRP topper Balika Vadhu, and later went on to take part in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5 and Bigg Boss 7, was found hanging yesterday at the Andheri apartment she shared with her boyfriend.

Police say the death followed a tiff that Pratyusha, 24, had with actor producer Rahul Raj Singh, whose parents reside at Namkum in Ranchi, over their marriage plans. Mumbai police, sources said today, were in the process of recording Rahul Raj's statement.

Although the police initially suspected suicide, they later said foul play could not be ruled out. "No suicide note has been found. There are some unusual injury marks on the body," a police source said yesterday.

Pratyusha, who studied till class 10 at Kerala Public School (Kadma) in Jamshedpur, was an alumna of Calcutta's St Xavier's College.

Her father Shankar Bannerjee (50) and mother Soma Bannerjee (46), returned to Jamshedpur from Mumbai on March 27 and were staying at their own house at Mannas Aakash near Sangam Vihar at Sonari when news of her death reached them. They left for Mumbai late last night.

"I cannot believe that Titan (as she was fondly called at home) could take her own life. She spoke to me on March 27 when her parents reached Jamshedpur. She was absolutely normal and happy and unless something drastic had happened in the last three days it is unthinkable that she could commit suicide," said Kingshuk Mukherjee, a relative and neighbour of the Banerjees at Sonari.

Another acquaintance, Mohan Bhiyan, who claimed to have spoken to the Banerjees before they left for Mumbai, said they refused to accept that Pratyusha could commit suicide.

Pratyusha's grandmother Jharna Bannerjee (65), who stays at her ancestral house at Panchwati Nagar at Sonari, barely 200 meters from Shankar and Soma's parents, had not eaten her breakfast when The Telegraph approached her at 11 in the morning.

" Se aatmo hatta korte pare na, se soth er chilo. (She cannot commit suicide. She was always about truth)," she said suddenly bursting into tears while watching a TV news channel airing a report about Pradyusha's death.

" Amar cheletake bhalo lagto na (I did not like that boy)," she added as an after thought.

Sharat Chandran, director of Kerala Public School in Kadma where Pratyusha had studied, described her as an average student who excelled in dramatics and music. "She was jovial girl who mixed around freely. She was average in studies but excellent in dramatics and music. She won several awards in youth festival held in our school," he recalled.