As many as 15 inmates of Bethany House, Ghatshila, were on Wednesday brought to MGM Medical College and Hospital in Jamshedpur for collection of blood samples and fingerprints in connection with the killing of a Class III student at the private hostel last month.

The children - all students of Irvine Adventist School where victim Ram Chandra Giri studied - included a 13-year-old girl whom the 10-year-old boy had apparently seen in a compromising position with a senior inmate before he was battered with bricks on the terrace of Bethany House, where his body was found on June 27.

Sources at MGM hospital said the blood samples would be sent for DNA profiling to the state forensic lab in Hotwar, Ranchi, on Thursday. Ghatshila thana OC Ram Chander Ram said the test, along with fingerprint matching, would help them zero in on the senior boys who might have killed the student.

The 15 inmates, lodged at Ghatshila thana since the private hostel was sealed after the murder, was escorted to the hospital in Sakchi, 60km away, in a police van. Bethany House owners Mashi and Sarita Minz, who were initially detained on suspicion of murder, as well as parents of some of the children too reached the hospital for moral support. Blood was collected at a government-approved lab under MGM's department of clinical pathology.

An officer, who accompanied the hostel inmates, remained tight-lipped about the DNA test. However, a senior lab technician revealed that the samples would be sent to the state capital. "This is a forensic case. A police messenger will be sent to the Ranchi lab with the samples," said technician Jitendra Kumar.

OC Ram was more candid about the DNA profiling. "We had found strands of hair in the victim's fist, besides bloodstained fingerprints on the terrace of Bethany House. The DNA test and fingerprint matching will help us nail the culprits," the officer said.

A police source, on the condition of anonymity, reiterated that the murder of the 10-year-old boy was an insider job. "The victim, we suspect, was witness to a sexual act between a girl inmate and a 16-year-old boy whom we have identified and detained. The girl was in a physical relationship with two other boys, who may have been partners in the crime. The DNA test will help us crack the case," he said.