The badly burnt body, identified as that of Y Siva Venkatesh (25), was found on the outskirts of Tarakaramanagar under Bommuru Police station limits last night, Rajamahendravaram Urban District Superintendent of Police B Rajakumari said.
Venkatesh was a student of B Tech at the Rajamahendri Institute of Engineering and Technology (RIET), she said.
"The body was in a highly decomposed condition. Initially, it was difficult to identity it. We suspect someone poured petrol and burnt him alive," Rajakumari said.
Venkatesh's father, Y Bhaskar Rao, is a cloth merchant and resident of Dulla village under Kadiyam mandal of East Godavari district, she said.
Police have registered a murder case and launched an investigation.