The plan was meant to be fairly straightforward. The 17-year-old was supposed to lure his friend to a secluded spot, where the ex-boyfriend of his friend’s girlfriend would be waiting in ambush with some accomplices. Instead, the alleged murder plot took a chilling turn, with the unsuspecting teen himself becoming the victim.On Tuesday, the Thiruvananthapuram Police arrested a 17-year-old and his 18-year-old girlfriend, along with Umar Mufathar, a 21-year-old history-sheeter identified as an accomplice, for the murder. The arrests came after the victim’s body was found stuffed into an abandoned jute sack and covered with leaves on a deserted farmland in Pangappara, within Thiruvananthapuram city corporation limits, on Monday night, a day after his family reported him missing.In the investigation that followed, the police allegedly uncovered a story of a teenage relationship gone horribly wrong and a diabolical revenge plot, with a love triangle at the centre.Read | Two friends dead hours apart: Indian-origin woman from Kerala charged with murder in CaliforniaThe two accused adults were produced before a magistrate’s court, which remanded them in judicial custody. The main suspect was produced before the juvenile justice board, which sent him to an observation home.It allegedly started with a breakup between the 17-year-old suspect and his girlfriend, after which she entered a new relationship. According to investigators, the girl began sharing photographs and details of her new relationship with the 17-year-old prime suspect, prompting jealousy in him.In the meantime, he allegedly befriended the woman suspect. “The accused was well aware that the victim and his new girlfriend were friends, and that his ex’s new partner was close to the victim, being from the same part of the city,” one officer said. “The suspect blamed his ex’s new partner for his breakup and wanted to get back”.The trap was allegedly carefully laid. First, the suspect took control of the 18-year-old woman’s Instagram account and began communicating with the victim, who, unaware of what was happening, responded.Story continues below this adOn Sunday, the suspect, still posing as his 18-year-old girlfriend, allegedly lured the victim out of his house to a secluded farm in Pangappara in Thiruvananthapuram district for a meeting. There, he allegedly asked the unsuspecting victim to lure his friend — the intended target. The victim was forced to summon his friend to the spot, but his friend, suspecting something was off, allegedly turned him down.This led to a blazing row between the 17-year-old suspect and the victim, police sources said.“When the victim tried to leave the place, the accused person hit his head with an object and strangled him using a belt. He allegedly sought the help of Umar to conceal the body,” one officer said.The unravellingWhen the victim did not return home on Sunday, his family grew worried. According to his father, a headload worker, the victim left home on Sunday afternoon, saying he was going to meet a friend.Story continues below this ad“We had to attend a wedding reception in the evening around 6 pm, and he was to come along with us. At around 4 pm, I called him. After repeated calls, he told me that he’ll be back in 10 minutes. At 10 pm, when he still hadn’t returned and our calls continued to go unanswered, we filed a missing person report at the local police station.”On Sunday night, the victim’s older sister, who works abroad, sent out a distress video message on Facebook. In it, she said her brother was missing and asked her contacts to help find him.That night, the police swung into action, tracking the victim’s phone location and examining CCTV footage. The 17-year-old suspect was taken into custody but released that same night.On Monday, acting on fresh inputs, the police took him into custody again, eventually leading them to his alleged accomplices. “The suspect was from the Chempazhanthy area in the city and knew the victim from his school days, although he was not a student in the same school now,” police sources said.Story continues below this adReferring to the role of the third accused, the woman, in the crime, City Police Commissioner Arul R B Krishna told the media that she had “clear knowledge about the crime”.“The extent of her involvement in the crime can be disclosed only after further investigation. Umar is a history-sheeter and has undergone a six-month jail term under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities Act. He was out of jail only on September 1 this year. In the past, the 17-year-old had gotten involved in a burglary led by Umar.”The commissioner said the police zeroed in on the accused mainly after analysing phone calls, Instagram messages and CCTV visuals. “We are also looking into the involvement of more persons in the crime,” he said.