Bhubaneswar, June 27: Police today started an investigation into the recovery of the body of a youth under the railway flyover bridge near Satya Nagar here last night.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased, Kabi Nayak, was staying with his uncle and aunt near Buddha Nagar and was involved in a number of petty crimes such as snatching in and around Bhubaneswar railway station.

The police suspect past rivalry to be the cause of the murder. “Three of his friends were arrested and forwarded to the court yesterday by Government Railway Police. We are trying to ascertain whether that incident has any connection with the murder,” said a police official.

The police today conducted a post-mortem. The police said that Nayak was stabbed on his neck and was then strangulated to death. The accused persons allegedly wrapped the body in a polythene sheet and carried it to the railway track under the over bridge.

“We are suspecting involvement of more than one person in the crime,” said a police official.

The matter came to light after a few local residents spotted the body wrapped in a polythene sheet beside the railway tracks last night. The police said that Nayak had left his house last evening and did not return. Nayak was a native of Buguda in Ganjam district.