Behrampore, April 24: An 18-year-old carpenter was hacked to death this morning, hours before he was to elope with a girl to Bangalore.

Shabejul Sheikh’s blood-soaked body was found in a field, a kilometre from his home in Dosturpara village of Murshidabad district, at 8 this morning.

Police suspect a love triangle — involving Shabejul’s friend Adil Sheikh — and have detained the girl. The police have also held the girl’s father, Ajibur Sheikh, an affluent farmer who was opposed to the match.

Adil, 20, a Class VI dropout, is absconding.

“We suspect the murder was committed over a love affair. We have detained the girl and her father,” said Basab Dasgupta, district superintendent of police.

“We are interrogating Ajibur to find out whether he had any role to play in the murder,” an officer said.

The girl told the police that Adil, whom Shabejul had introduced to her, was in love with her. He had even proposed to her when Shabejul was in Bangalore. “The girl turned Adil down and this might have angered him and driven him to kill Shabejul. We have launched a hunt for Adil,” an officer said.

Shabejul and the girl — both Class VIII dropouts — had been having an affair for the last two years. But the girl’s family did not approve of Shabejul as his father, Afaz Sheikh, is a small farmer, the police said.

“Shabejul knew carpentry and had found a job in Bangalore where he earned about Rs 6,000 a month. He came home a month ago and planned to take the girl to Bangalore after secretly marrying her. They were supposed to take a bus from Behrampore to Calcutta at 4am today,” an officer said.

Afaz said he was aware of his son’s relationship and also knew the girl’s father was opposed to it.

“Yesterday afternoon, my son went out with some friends on his bicycle. When he did not return till late evening, we became worried. Around 9pm, Adil came to our house with my son’s bicycle and told us that Shabejul had gone to his home and would be spending the night there. We were shocked when my son’s body was found this morning,” he said.