Police on Wednesday arrested three men suspected of raping and murdering a teenage boy in the village of Mataro Mangria near Chachro.

The suspects ─ Muhammad Ramazan, Ali Nawaz, and Muhammad Juman ─ who were arrested during a raid in the area confessed to raping the minor, Station House Officer (SHO) Chachro Abdul Rehman Rahu

The 17-year-old victim's brother told reporters that the boy was on his way home when the suspects accosted him on Friday night. His decomposing body was later found by villagers.

"We took the boy to a deserted place, took turns to rape him and then threw a bottle of the acid on his body due to which he died. Then we buried his body under a sand dune," one of the suspects claimed.

The victim's brother, who had earlier registered a First Information Report against the culprits, said that police had recovered two cellphones belonging to the victim from their possession.

He added that the police was further investigating the rape and murder of his brother, and that three or four more people may have been involved in the crime.

Dr Lekhraj, who conducted a post-mortem examination of the victim, said that his body had been badly affected by the acid and confirmed that the boy had been subjected to sexual assault.

The SHO, while speaking to Dawn, said that the suspects were being produced in a district and sessions court in Mithi later today.

The minor victim's brother, while talking to Dawn, appealed for the case of his brother to be sent to an Anti-Terrorism Court for a summary trial.