According to police, the incident took place on Wednesday night (Representational)

A 22-year-old man was strangled allegedly by his two juvenile friends after an altercation over money in Shahdara's Anand Vihar, police said Saturday.

The victim, who was identified as Nitin Mishra, was a drug addict, they said.

According to police, the incident took place on Wednesday night.

On Tuesday, Mishra and his two friends had consumed drugs, after which the two dropped him home.

When Mishra met the two on the fateful day, he accused them of taking Rs 10,000 from his pocket the previous night while he was under the influence of drugs. His friends became angry and an altercation broke out between the three, a senior police officer said.

They strangled Mishra with a rope and later dumped his body in a drain. The victim was under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident. It is yet to be ascertained if the accused were also under the influence of drugs, he said.

When Mishra did not return home for two days, his father lodged a police complaint on Friday. He suspected the involvement of the two behind Mishra's disappearance, the officer said.

The two were apprehended, he said.

They told police that they used to take drugs with Mishra and he would often bully the two as he was elder to them, the officer said.

On Wednesday, Mishra allegedly threatened them to return his money, following which an altercation broke out between the three and the juveniles killed him, the officer said.

The two also took police personnel to the crime spot from where Mishra's body was recovered along with the rope used to strangle him, he said.

The body has been sent for post mortem, the police said.