There was not a tinge of remorse for the 13-year-old girl, who allegedly hatched the plot with her boyfriend and two other teenagers to kill her grandfather in Kerala’s Alappuzha district on Sunday, police officials said. Police have detained all the four teenagers in this connection.

When the police inspected the crime scene, the cops noticed the shoddy manner in which clothes were used to tie up 65-year-old Sivankutty Chettiyar, who was allegedly murdered in his rented residence at Karuvatta.

While the initial suspicion veered towards a planned gang robbery, considering the break-in and murder-theft, the police started looking for clues within the family as soon as they understood the nature of the crime.

"Gangs usually come prepared with ropes and weapons. In this case, a lungi and whatever clothes were around the house were used to tie him up. Though the theft seemed planned, they came unprepared. The absence of the girl from the house was also curious," a senior Special Branch official said.

The girl has nursed a grudge towards Chettiyar after being repeatedly scolded for constant use of phone and for coming home late. The girl had befriended the other teenagers during her school days in Kollam.

Chettiyar's daughter Sreekala married twice. The accused girl is the daughter from her first marriage. Sreekala, who had been divorced, married another person, who is now employed in the Gulf. All of them were residents of Kollam. Two years ago, they moved to a rented house at Karuvatta. The construction of a new house for Sreekala is underway and the rented residence is near the plot.

The girl constantly groused about her grandfather to her boyfriend who would then share it with his friends. When Sreekala was admitted to the hospital for delivery of her second child, the girl spotted a chance and informed her friends in Kollam. "She planned everything. We understand that she asked them to kill Chettiyar. Every piece of information, like Chettiyar was alone at home, where the gold ornaments were, and entry and exit, was shared by her. We are questioning them for further details," Alappuzha District Police Chief Vishnu Pratheep T K told Onmanorama.

The police said the girl rang up her boyfriend on Friday and told him that Chettiyar would be alone on Sunday and asked to finish him off. On Sunday night, they boarded a train to reach Haripad. Although they arrived at the bus stand, there was no bus at that time. One of the accused then contacted the girl, who then asked them to catch an auto. She was put on a video call, and she guided them to the rented house. The accused clambered up the roof of the house and tried to break in. She told them that the easiest option was via the ventilator of the attached bathroom. The police said Chettiyar heard the sound of doors being smashed open and confronted the girl's boyfriend. During the struggle, they cornered him and gagged him. He was hit repeatedly by the youths, and when Chettiyar struggled to breathe, they removed the gag from his mouth. By then, Chettiyar lost consciousness, and the boyfriend made a video call to the girl and showed him lying on the floor. She then told them to check the almirah in the other room for gold. "We had noticed that only one room was in disarray and the girl's room was intact. This also led us to believe that someone from the family was involved," a police official said.

According to police, the girl did everything to throw police off the trail. "There was so much inconsistency in her statements. She sounded so bold and confident even when giving contradictory replies. The probe was then centred on her and her call history, which eventually led to other teenagers," another police official said.

Soon after the murder, the teens switched off their mobile phones. Two of them camped out in another friend's house while another boy was held at his house in Kollam. The police had deployed two teams to their locations after they gathered from the girl that her friends were involved. The police were initially told that they didn't plan to kill him but wanted to bash him up and steal ornaments. "But the message from the girl was clear -- to kill her grandfather. They also wanted to gift some money to another friend whose wedding is scheduled. They planned to use the rest of the money for personal use," police said.