The Hyderabad police on Wednesday arrested a childhood friend of Chandini Jain in connection with her murder. The 17-year-old’s decomposed body was found on Tuesday morning in the outskirts of the city, after she went missing on Saturday evening.

According to police, Chandini and the accused were classmates and close friends. The accused, also 17, told police that both had confessed their love for each other in 2015 but he had been trying to end the relationship since the last six months. Chandini, however, continued messaging and calling him frequently, he added. “The accused said he decided to end the relationship and called her to meet him Saturday evening. He took her to the hillocks and after a bitter argument he hit her on the head and neck and pushed her down the boulders into a ditch 10 feet below. After a couple of hours when Chandini’s sister called him to enquire if she was with him, he denied and went to her house and met the parents and joined in the search. CCTV footage helped us nail him,” an official of Ameenpur Police Station said.

CCTV footages of the case

The police had detained the accused on Tuesday based on CCTV footages showing Chandini and him getting into an autorickshaw near her home, and later walking towards the hillocks on Saturday evening. Three other youths who were seen in the footage alongside Chandini were also questioned.

Chandini’s parents have expressed shock over the confession. According to them, the accused was part of Chandini’s large group of friends and also a regular visitor to their house along with the others. They denied having any knowledge of an affair between them.

“The area where the body was found is almost inaccessible, amidst huge boulders and desolated. A motorcycle or car can come up to a certain point but not up to the boulders. We don’t think she would have gone there all by herself that too late in the evening. We ruled out the possibility of she becoming a victim of blue whale challenge. It appears to be murder,” Inspector Ram Reddy had said on Tuesday.

Daughter of Kishore Jain and Kvaita Jain, Chandini had left her house in Madinaguda at 5:30 pm telling her sister that she was going out with her friends. When her mother called her an hour later, her phone was switched off. When she did not return till 8:30 pm, the parents started searching for her. The friends with whom she was supposed to go out denied meeting her. An FIR was lodged late in the night.