Three minor boys, the youngest of them 11 years old, allegedly strangled their 12-year-old friend with a cycle chain, smashed his head with a stone and slit his throat with a sharp knife in a village in Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Monday.

Later, they stuffed the body in a polythene bag and dumped it on a pile of pebbles near their house. The crime came to light after a woman spotted the blood-stained bag and informed the police.

Police suspect an old dispute as the trigger behind the brutal murder.

The three boys have been detained and produced in court which sent them to a correctional home for 14 days.

"The trio, aged 16, 14 and 11 respectively including two brothers, called the 12-year-old boy to a deserted place in Magarkatha village, about 28 km from the Seoni district headquarters, on Sunday," Barghat police station Inspector Prasanna Sharma told PTI.

He said the three boys executed the murder like habitual killers.

"They planned the crime and called their 12-year-old friend to a secluded place. They caught hold of him and strangled him with a cycle chain. As the boy cried in pain, they smashed his head with a big stone, and slit his throat with a sharp knife which is used for slaughtering goats," Sharma said.

To ensure that a woman living nearby is not alarmed, the trio stuffed the 12-year-old's body in a polythene bag, dumped it on a heap of pebbles near their house and fled, the police officer said.

He said further investigation is underway.