Three boarding school students strangled two younger boys in hopes the school would cancel classes after the deaths, police in India alleged on Saturday.

The three male students, aged 12 and 13, confessed to stranglingthe brothers,aged eight andfive,said S. Sethi, a police officer in the Jalna district, about 320 kilometres east of Mumbai.

"When questioned, the boys said they knew this school gave a holiday when a child had died last year and thought they could get another holiday this year," Sethi said.

Police allege the three boys lured the two younger boys so they could kill them, and dragged their bodies to an unused washroom. The bodies were discovered the following day when their older sister reported them missing.

An autopsy confirmed the two boys had been strangled, Sethi said.