The body of the girl student of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla, in Odisha’s Sambalpur district, who died allegedly after jumping off the power channel bridge on Tuesday night, was retrieved on Wednesday from the water body.

Police detained her classmate, a boy, in this connection after family members suspected foul play. The police sources said the student, identified as Chinmayee Priyadarshini Sahoo, 20, a B.Tech student, had jumped off the power channel bridge on Tuesday following a spat with her classmate.

Chinmayee, a student of the information and technology department, attended the university’s convocation programme on Tuesday and received her degree.

“She talked to us on Tuesday and she was happy. She was supposed to return home to Bhubaneswar. We had never expected such a development. She was murdered and thrown into the power channel water body,” alleged Chinmayee’s father.

Vice-chancellor of VSSUT, Prof Bansidhar Majhi, told reporters: “I got the information late at night about the mishap and immediately informed the police.”

Following the allegations, the police detained the girl’s classmate Pritiman Dey. The police sources said both Pritiman and Chinmayee went near the power channel on Tuesday evening. But the police are investigating what happened there during the meeting.

“It’s too early to comment on the issue. Probe has begun to find out whether it’s a murder or a suicide case,” sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Burla, Satyabrata Das, told reporters.