Five minor boys watched a popular TV crime serial and went on to kidnap a seven-year-old boy for ransom and then murdered him.
The accused boys are aged between 15 and 16 years and study in Class 10.
Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shlok Kumar said. "The boy was picked up by the teenagers from his school on July 9 and then taken to Aligarh where they choked him to death using a handkerchief. They then dumped his body in a river which was recovered later."
An FIR was first lodged under IPC section 363 (missing) on the basis of a complaint by the child's father, who lives in Shekhupur village under Chhatari police station limits.
"After the probe and findings, the accused have been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) also," the police said.
The SSP said one of the teenagers had mistakenly lost Rs 40,000 while carrying out a financial transaction and was worried about it. He later narrated his ordeal to his friends after which they all decided to kidnap a child from the school for ransom to make up for his loss.
"On July 9, the victim was among the first few students to reach the school. The accused had not specifically planned to kidnap him but he was picked up since he reached the school early and there were not many people at the time," the SSP said.
"The teenager, who also studied in the same school, saw the boy playing outside his class and then took him to the boundary of the school where his other associates, who studied in a different school, were already present," he said.
The two accused took the boy on a motorcycle to Aligarh while the other reached there by bus. They had taken the boy to Aligarh because one of the accused had a house there and the boy was kept hostage there.
However, later the teenagers panicked thinking what they would do if their plan does not succeed and thought they might land in trouble.
The SSP added that they then decided to kill the boy and dumped his body in a river. They threw his handkerchief in bushes in an isolated area and returned to Bulandshahr.
The next day the child's body was found from the river in Aligarh and he was identified as the boy missing from Bulandshahr, he said.
Six teams were formed which analysed over 100 CCTV footages and questioned more than 200 people in connection with the case.
The accused were presented before a juvenile justice board for further legal action in the case.