Kendrapara, Dec. 23: Police have arrested five teens for the recent murder of a youth here.

The teens gunned down Khadianga resident Sudhansu Swain, 21, on December 20 on the outskirts of Kendrapra township for allegedly refusing to join criminal activities that his assailants were involved in. The teens - Bishneswar Maharana, Deepak Behera, Rajendra Nayak, Bhaskar Nayak and Subhasish Sutar - are all aged between 18 and 19 years and lived within Kendrapara municipality areas.

Swain's murder is the first crime recorded against them, said Kendrapara police station inspector Nilakantha Prasad Patra.

The accused have confessed to operating as accomplices in a criminal syndicate in the township. They tried to initiate Swain into their activities, but he refused.

"It was a pre-planned murder. A gang member had handed over the revolver used in killing the youth. Swain was shot in the forehead from close range," he said.

"Maharana had allegedly masterminded the murder and also pulled the trigger," he said.

Gangs operating in the area ensnared them with the lure of easy money.

Additional police superintendent Ramesh Chandra Mohanty said the cops were trying to curb criminal activities and had formed special squads to end lawlessness in the area.