Lucknow, Feb 3 (IANS): The police on Monday detained two 'friends' -- a male and a female -- of a 21-year-old woman whose charred body was found in a jungle near Gangaganj in Rae Bareli.

The deceased, whose body was found on Saturday, has been identified as a resident of Bachhrawan town in the district. She was a postgraduate student in a local educational institution.

Some locals in Harchandpur informed the police about the body.

During the probe, the police found that the girl had asked one of her friends on Friday to call her parents and say she had been kidnapped.

Inspector General of Police (Lucknow range) S.K. Bhagat, who visited the spot on Sunday, said the woman's friend made a call to her parents and the next day her charred body was found.

"It is a brutal killing and preliminary investigation suggests that there could be involvement of both the suspects out of whom the male is a relative of the deceased. We are quizzing them," he said.

The post-mortem report is awaited to ascertain if the deceased was raped before the killing.

The woman's identity could only be ascertained after the police found study material in her bag from the crime spot and contacted her institute subsequently.

Meanwhile, the locals staged a demonstration on Bachhrawan crossing by blocking the Lucknow-Prayagraj highway for almost four hours on Monday.

They were demanding the immediate arrest of the accused and the death sentence for them.