Afan, the 23-year-old accused in the Venjaramoodu mass murder, got off an auto, strolled towards the front desk, wearing a shirt, jeans and shoes and calmly narrated the details of the blood-curdling killings at the police station on Monday evening. "I killed three people," he told the cop at the reception. As he spoke, he took a bunch of keys from his pocket and placed it on the desk. He told police that he had locked the rooms where the bodies were lying.

"He was unbelievably calm. He was neatly dressed and there was no sign of panic. He carried a mobile phone and keys," said a police official. The cops soon rushed to the house address he gave and broke open the doors. The body of his brother Afsan was found smeared in blood in the drawing room while his mother, Shemi, was lying unconscious in the bedroom. The police then found the body of Afan's girlfriend, Farsana, upstairs. Afan also told police that he had consumed poison, and he was taken first to a nearby hospital and then to Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.

The police said that he used a newly-bought hammer to bludgeon his targets. His grandmother, Salma Beevi, who stayed alone at Pangode, was found lying in a pool of blood by her youngest daughter. She called the ambulance and the driver got suspicious and alerted the police. Initially it was thought that Salma Beevi may have slipped and banged her head. By then, the message was circulated on Afan's confession at Venjaramoodu police station, which confirmed that he started off his killing spree at Pangode by murdering Salma Beevi. A few people from Pangode who came to Perumala in the evening said that they had spotted Afan around Salma Beevi's house in the morning.

The police recorded the timeline of the crime in Afan's house at Perumala between 3 pm and 5.45 pm. The police suspect that he committed murders at SN Puram, barely 5 km from Perumala and at Pangode, which is around 12 km from Perumala, between morning and noon. He used his two-wheeler, took shortcuts to avoid the heavy traffic along the MC road and returned to his house around 3 pm. His two-wheeler, a sporty, blue-tinted one, was found parked at the opening of the narrow, dusty path leading to the house.

Jaleel, a neighbour said that Afsan came to his wife Saleela after coming back from school. "He said the gate was locked and asked my wife to call Shemi. When Saleela called her, Afan answered the call and said they were in Pangode and would come back soon. We told Afsan to wait at our home till they came back. We also offered him food. Afsan said he would rather wait in front of his house. The next thing we know was that he was killed," said Jaleel. The neighbours said that Afan may have been waiting for Afsan to return from school, and he would have already hammered his girlfriend to death, and he believed his mother was also dead.

The house where the murder happened lies in a closely packed neighbourhood. There are two houses on either side sharing a compound wall and one is located right opposite the house. Nobody heard any screams. "We knew about the murder only when police arrived and we heard the smashing of locks. None of us heard anything from that house," said Hasheem, another neighbour.

Afan had told some of the neighbours that he was employed at Technopark, while others Onmanorama spoke to said that they always thought he was jobless. Two years ago, Afan, Shemi and Afsan went on a visiting visa to the Middle East, where Rahim, his father, runs a car-accessory shop.

Neighbours and his acquaintances said that Afan had borrowed money from people, and financial troubles haunted the family. Of late, they kept to themselves because of the financial issues, a neighbour said. Two days ago, he reportedly brought his girlfriend Farsana home and this was met with objection. There are unconfirmed reports that he sought money from his relatives to settle his debts, and when they refused, he resorted to murder. "At present, we suspect he had financial issues which led to the murder. All other angles need to be probed. We need to question him to corroborate his statements," said Attingal DySP Manjulal.

A few youngsters who knew Afan said that he never came across as someone with a violent temper. "We find it hard to believe. He was very soft-spoken and friendly," said Akhil. Afan's mother, Shemi, is in a critical care unit at a private medical college. Rahim has not visited his house for the past five years, a relative said. They bought the property at Perumala 10 years ago and built a house there.