A 14-year-old boy of a village under Chakulia police station of North Dinajpur district was murdered on Saturday allegedly by his friend who is also a minor.

Police found his body and arrested the accused who admitted to the murder as the victim was “blackmailing” him.

Sources said the victim, a Class VII student, went out of his home on Saturday afternoon. As he did not return home by evening, his family members started a search.. At night, they spotted him in a deserted area near the house, with serious injuries on his wrists. They rushed him to the hospital in Kishanganj, a neighbouring town in Bihar, where doctors pronounced him dead.

A police team from Kanki outpost in Chakulia started a probe and came to know the victim had met a friend. The friend was brought to the police station. “During interrogation, he admitted to the murder. He told us the victim used to blackmail him over an issue. On Saturday, he took the victim to a deserted place, strangled him and cut off the veins of the boy’s wrists. Our officers are trying to find out if anybody else was involved,” said Sachin Makkar, SP, Islampur police district.