Guwahati:
In their greed for money five youths abducted their friend, a class 9 student in Guwahati, for ransom last week.
According to the cops, they killed him after they faced problems in holding him captive. The five culprits were taken into custody today.
They have been sent for medical tests to ascertain if they are minors.
The victim - Prasenjit Lahkar - had gone missing after he left for school on October 1. His family received an extortion call two days later and an SMS demanding Rs. 15 lakh for his release, police said.
"We have investigated the matter and found that the five youth, who were friends of Malakar, took him to Sonapur for a party on October 1. They wanted to extort money from Malakar's family," said Senior Superintendent of Police (City) AP Tiwari.
"However, they found it difficult to keep him as a hostage and killed him in the jungles of Sonapur," he said.
Mr Tiwari said police had recovered Malakar's body, his clothes and school bag from the area. The accused have confessed their involvement in the crime, Mr Tiwari said.