New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS): The 13-year-old son of a property dealer here was murdered immediately after being abducted from outside his house by three neighbours, police Tuesday said, adding that the culprits killed the boy as they feared getting caught.

Sunny, Mukesh and Sandeep, all in their late 20s, abducted Jatin Dhingra from Burari area in north Delhi Saturday and killed him and dumped his body in a canal. They also made a ransom call of Rs.40 lakh to his father before being arrested, police said.

The three accused were arrested Monday evening from their respective houses in the same area, police said.

"Sunny had suffered a huge financial loss in betting and this pushed him into hatching the abduction plan along with Sandeep and Mukesh, whose financial condition was also not good," said a police officer.

Sunny and Sandeep work in a medical store while Mukesh works in a private factory, police said.

"Around 11.30 a.m. on Saturday, Jatin, who was known to Sunny, was taken to the Alipur area. Around 2.30 p.m., the accused strangled him after giving him sedatives and dumped his body in a canal," police said.