New Delhi, Mar 12 (IANS): Two brothers -- aged five and seven -- have died after they were bitten by stray dogs in the national capital's Vasant Kunj area, an official said on Sunday.

The deceased have been identified as Anand, 7, and Aditya, 5. Both used to reside at a "jhuggi" near a forest area.

The police said the deaths have been reported within a span of two days. A senior police officer said that on March 10, at around 3 p.m., an information regarding a seven-year-old child going missing was received.

After a search, Anand's body was found in a secluded place.

"There were multiple injuries on his body that seemed to have been caused by some animal bite. Later, it was learnt there are many stray dogs in the forest area that often attack goats and pigs," the police said.

A case under Section 302 of the IPC was also lodged. The body of the child was sent to Safdarjung Hospital for post-mortem.

The police said that two days later, on March 12, they received another complaint about a child going missing. The child was later identified as Aditya, the younger brother of Anand.

The police were told that Aditya, along with his cousin Chandan (24), went to answer the call of nature at a place close to the forest area.

"Chandan was at some distance from Aditya. After some time, when Chandan returned, he found Aditya in an injured condition, surrounded by stray dogs," a police officer said.

The post-mortem of both children has been done and further action will be taken based on the postmortem report.