Barabanki, Oct 15 (PTI) Two men were arrested for allegedly killing a teenager in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district after he refused to get them money from his father, police said on Friday.

The accused were identified as Nagendra (26), a resident of Bahraich district and Satyendra (27), a resident of Ballia district. They ate food and consumed liquor with the victim, Ashutosh Gautam alias Suraj (18), before killing him, they said.

Also Read | Bangladesh Durga Puja Violence: Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb Talks to Indian Envoy Vikram K Doraiswami.

Suraj went missing on Thursday. When his elder brother called him up around 7.30 pm, a man claiming to be Rafique from Lucknow answered the phone and demanded Rs 50-lakh ransom for Suraj's release, the police said.

The accused asked Suraj's brother to hand over the money to him by 9.30 pm, they said.

Also Read | Asaduddin Owaisi Dismisses RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat's Claim of Increase in Muslim Population.

Suraj's father lodged a police complaint and a number of teams were formed to look for the teenager, they added.

Superintendent of Police Yamuna Prasad said that the surveillance team traced Suraj's mobile phone to Laperabagh locality. It was switched off.

Later, around 24 people were detained for questioning and the police zeroed in on Nagendra and Satyendra. During interrogation, they confessed to the crime, he said.

Suraj was with the two accused on Thursday evening and they had food and consumed liquor together. Then Nagendra and Satyendra asked him to get some money from his father but he refused, the police said.

Enraged, the two men hit Suraj on his head with a 'tawa' and strangulated him. Later they dumped his body in a ditch and covered it with bushes and bricks, they said.

The body was recovered on Friday morning and sent for a post-mortem examination, the police said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)