Calcutta, Sept. 2: The two Thakurpukur brothers missing since Friday were hidden by their mother at a relative’s home so that she could bring kidnapping charges against her neighbour, police said today.

The siblings, aged 11 and 10, were found in a house in Baranagar in north Calcutta.

The police said their mother, Kalpana Dube, confessed to hiding them during interrogation. It has not been decided if she should face legal action.

In a missing diary filed with the Thakurpukur police station on Friday, Kalpana said she had dropped Rajesh and Suresh at school, but did not find them when she went to fetch them later in the day.

The police did not suspect abduction for ransom as the Dubes had not received any phone call. The brothers had attended all the classes and taken their unit tests.

“We suspected a dispute within or outside the family from the beginning,” said South 24-Parganas superintendent of police Praveen Kumar.

The police said there were frequent quarrels between the neighbours on trivial issues. “Kalpana knew the neighbour would face harassment if named as suspects,” a Thakurpukur officer said.