Thiruvananthapuram: Afan's frenzied killings in Venjaramoodu were borne out of frustration over mounting debts and a dearth of money to lead a life as he wanted, police said. With a 27mm iron hammer, he landed 13-20 fatal blows on the victims.

His father Rahim’s passport has been reportedly withheld in Saudi Arabia's Dammam and he is not allowed to travel, police have understood. Rahim has stopped sending money to his family after his business plunged into loss. Back home, Afan’s mother, Shemi, a cancer patient, borrowed money from people to meet daily expenses, and Afan also took money from his acquaintances. He didn’t have a steady job and as debts soared he became frustrated, a senior police official associated with the probe said.

On Tuesday, after his brother Afsan left for school, he allegedly had a verbal altercation with his mother, and he strangled her and left her for dead in the bedroom. Afan then went to a shop, asked for a heavy tool, and bought an iron hammer. He then went to Pangode and asked for a gold chain from his grandmother Salma Beevi to be pawned. When she refused, he bludgeoned her with the hammer. He confirmed her death, took the gold chain and came back to Venjaramoodu where he pawned it for Rs 15,000. The police have recovered Rs 14,700 from the crime scene.

Afan then rode to SN Puram and allegedly asked for money from his paternal uncle Latheef and his wife Shahida. When they said no, he pulled out the hammer and hit Latheef on his head. Police sources said Latheef sustained 20 blows to his head. When Shahida resisted, she was also attacked and killed with the same hammer.

Afan then rang up his girlfriend Farsana. As he took her upstairs, in an attempt to kill her, he got a call from one of the neighbours saying that his brother was waiting in front of the gate. Afan went downstairs, gave money to his brother, and asked him to buy dum biriyani. When his brother left, he went upstairs and killed Farsana. His next target was his brother. 

Police said that he wasn’t aware that his mother was still alive in the bedroom. He went outside, smoked a cigarette and decided to go to the police station when he heard a groan from the bedroom. He went to the room and hit his mother with the hammer 13 times, again leaving her unconscious and bleeding. 

The police have not fully bought his statement on consuming poison. “From what he told us, he was getting tired of not having enough money. Debts were mounting and, according to him, nobody helped him. He wanted to end everything and commit suicide. We need to verify some of his statements,” the police official said.

The police are also looking into Rahim’s financial issues in the Middle East.