Guwahati, Oct 10 (IANS): In their greed for money five youths abducted their friend, a class 9 student in Assam's capital, for ransom last week. They killed him after they faced problems in holding him captive, police said. The five culprits were taken into custody Thursday.

They have been sent for medical tests to ascertain if they are minors.

Prasenjit Lahkar had gone missing after he left for school Oct 1. Two days later (Oct 3), his family received an extortion call 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 Oct 1. They wanted to extort money from Malakar's family," said Senior Superintendent of Police (City) A.P.Tiwari.

"However, they found it difficult to keep him as a hostage and killed him Oct 1 in the jungles of Sonapur."

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, Tiwari revealed.