New Delhi: Five people were arrested for sodomising and murdering two children who had gone to collect sticks from a forest area in the capital, police said Thursday.

Vivek Kumar, Veeru, Vicky, Jitender and Harish were arrested from south Delhi's Sangam Vihar area Wednesday, police said.

Police said all the accused had the habit of consuming alcohol and cooking food in the forest area.

"On the night of Dec 22, they found two boys - aged 12 and 10 years - were returning home after collecting sticks. They attacked them in a bid to rob them, but when they failed to find anything from them, they sodomised them in turns before killing them with stones," a police officer said.

Their bodies with multiple injuries were found the next day from the forest area after their parents approached police.