Three persons have been arrested for the abduction and murder of the 19-year-old student whose battered body was recovered from near Khairbani canal under Jadugora police station on Saturday evening.

Police, who nabbed Rajesh Mahto alias Tinku, 25, Suraj Sharma, 19, and Sukhram Samad, 20, on Sunday night, said the trio were known to the victim and had planned to kidnap him for money.

Two mobile phones, a plastic rope, two bikes and the boulder used to kill Pankaj were recovered from them.

Deputy superintendent of police (law and order) Alok Ranjan said Pankaj, a resident of Gadra in Parsudih the student of Industrial Training Institute in Burmamines, had borrowed Rs 50,000 from the accused, but didn’t pay it back.

“The trio hatched a plan to extort Rs 5 lakh from Pankaj’s family members by staging an abduction drama,” Ranjan said.

The DSP said Tinku, who was known to Pankaj’s family, had taken the victim to Khairpal on his bike and made him consume liquor till he became unconscious.

“Tinku sent a video clip of senseless Pankaj with his hands and legs tied up to his sister and demanded Rs 5 lakh for his release. When Pankaj regained consciousness, he started shouting at Tinku and asked why he been tied up. Fearing Pankaj might tell everyone about his plan, Tinku lifted a boulder and kept hitting Pankaj till he died,” Ranjan said.

By the time Suraj and Sukhram reached the spot, Tinku had killed Pankaj.