Mumbai, Dec 25 (PTI): In a spine-chilling act, a three- and-a-half-year old girl was kidnapped for a ransom of Rs one crore and later murdered allegedly by two 16-year-old boys, police said.

The boys, both studying in a college in Sion, were apprehended early today.

The incident came to light last night after the girl's body was recovered from Kazipura at Haji Kasam Chawl in Nagpada area. One of the accused, a neighbour of the victim, confessed to the crime after which police went to the site where the body was dumped.

The victim had been missing since December 5 and a case in this regard was registered by her parents with the J J Marg Police Station, police said.

During investigation, a teenager, who lived in the neighbourhood of the girl and had passed on the information of kidnapping to her parents, was detained and quizzed by the police, they said.

It was revealed the boy and his accomplice allegedly abducted the girl on December 5 using chloroform and later strangulated her with the wire of a mobile phone charger the very same day, the officer said.

Later, the victim's parents received a call from some unidentified persons, demanding Rs 1 crore as ransom. Unable to shell out such a huge amount, the girl's father agreed to pay Rs 28 lakh to the alleged kidnappers, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-1) Manojkumar Sharma said.

The abductors later asked the girl's father to come with the ransom amount at a spot in Kalwa town in neighbouring Thane. However, they never turned up to receive the amount at the designated place, said police.

"We suspected the youth who had provided details about kidnapping of the girl. We kept an eye on him and his accomplice for 15 days and we detained them last night for interrogation, where they confessed of having committed the crime," the officer said.

The duo had done proper planning before committing the crime, said police, adding they would be charged under relevant section of IPC.