Three youth were arrested for murdering their friend here in Hasanganj police area on Tuesday. The youn men allegedly killed their friend when he refused to give them money to purchase liquor. The three accused were identified as Ajay, Sonu and Chachu, all residents of Khadra, Hasanganj. They allegedly murdered their friend Anil, 23, on October 3.

The victim’s family registered an FIR after his body was recovered from a pond near his house on October 5. The victim worked as a plumber in a private firm.

His brother Rajesh alleged that the three accused took his brother Anil along with them on the day of incident. “We started searching for Anil when he did not return home and approached his friends. We approached the police when the three friends told us that the victim had drowned and his body was lying in the pond.”

The victim’s friends disappeared from their houses when the police started searching for them.

District police spokesman PK Srivastava said the police arrested the trio from their relatives’ place on Tuesday. Srivastava said that the youths confessed that they had murdered Anil when he refused to lend them money to purchase a liquor bottle.