Thiruvananthapuram: In the cold-blooded murder of five people at Venjaramoodu, the Special Investigation Team has decided to interrogate Shemi, the mother of the accused. The cops took this step after the accused, Afan, held his mother responsible for the massive debt of Rs 65 lakh. Manorama News reported that the probe team will question Shemi about her financial transactions and debts.

According to the police, Afan’s family fell into a debt trap within three and half years after 2021. Apart from relatives, the family had allegedly borrowed money from loan sharks in the area.

During the interrogation, Afan accused his mother of borrowing gold and property documents from their relatives to mortgage at financial firms. For around two and a half years, Shemi herself handled financial dealings with moneylenders and firms. Citing this, the police plan to conduct a detailed investigation to determine the purpose behind borrowing such a large sum.

The family’s financial dealings came under scrutiny after Abdul Rahim, Afan’s father, who recently returned from the UAE, told police that he was only aware of a debt of Rs 15 lakh. Rubbishing Afan's claims, Rahim argued that he never asked his family to send money for him after his business collapsed in the UAE.

Shemi, the lone survivor of her son’s attack, is currently undergoing treatment at Gokulam Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. She sustained severe head injuries in the attack on February 24. After attacking Shemi, Afan murdered five people, including his family members. The deceased are his paternal grandmother, Salma Beevi (88); his younger brother, Afsan (14); his girlfriend, Farsana (22); his uncle, Abdul Latheef (69); and his aunt, Shajida (59).