Putting to rest speculation on the mysterious death of two boys in Asaram Bapu's school in Chhindwara, the police on Sunday claimed a Class IX student killed his hostel mates.

"The student identified as Rituraj Dixit (14) admitted of killing Ram Krishna Yadav and Vedant Manmodhe in the hostel's bathroom," IGP M R Krishna told reporters while claiming to have solved the murder mystery in the ashram school.

"Ram was killed on July 29 while Vedant was murdered on July 31 by Rituraj, who after calling the minors to the toilet on the pretext of giving them chocolates, took their lives by gagging them," he said.

In Vedant's case, after killing him, Rituraj forced his head into a bucket full of water.

Rituraj had also bitten Vedant on his neck and the police after conducting the forensic examination found that the mark was of his (Rituraj's) teeth following which he was arrested.

Rituraj, who took admission in the school this year, didn't want to study and wanted to go back to his native place in Chhindwara district, police said.

The post-mortem reports revealed that he killed the duo by adopting the same method, Krishna said.

Ram and Vedant were found dead in the hostel bathroom in a span of just 48 hours in almost similar conditions. Their mysterious deaths had sparked off a series of protests across the state.

Panicked over the development, parents of nearly 200 children had taken away their wards from the hostel.