Salim left the house again at 10.45 a.m., this time in black trousers and a light-blue full-sleeved shirt. One of the watchers, Prakash, who was keeping vigil outside Salim’s house in the garb of a municipal street cleaner, made a call to his buddy, Ismail, who was waiting on the nearby Shaukat Ali Road in an autorickshaw.

Soon, Salim appeared on Shaukat Ali Road in his blue Tata 407 pick-up van with a white roof. After driving along the road for about three kilometres, the van stopped. Salim got out and rushed to a PCO by the side of the road. He made a few calls but did not appear to speak to anyone. When he finally got through to someone, he spoke for less than a minute. He then got back into his van and drove off.

At 11.45 a.m., Salim parked his van at his garage, Sikandar Autoworks, and disappeared into a small office, which was visible from the road.

Prakash passed by the office in an autorickshaw fifteen minutes later. He could see Salim inside. He was sitting motionless in his chair, his feet propped up on the table as he looked out through the smoked glass panels of his cubicle.

At 3 p.m., Salim left his office and drove away in his van. He went to Old Hyderabad and stopped outside a restaurant, Chandni Biryani and Kebabs, at Malakpet. It was 3.45 p.m.

At 4.30, he left the restaurant. Half an hour later, he was roaming the streets and lanes of Avanti Nagar, a Hindu-dominated commercial-cum-residential area. He parked his van near a school, Ideal English Academy, and walked to a nearby Ganesh temple. He took off his sneakers and went inside. He came out twenty minutes later, a tika on his forehead.

From the Ganesh temple, Salim drove past several shopping malls, movie theatres, crowded streets and three other temples. He seemed to be on an evening out, just enjoying the sights and sounds of Hyderabad.

At 5.45 p.m., he parked his van in the lane that led to the Musi River. He walked to the riverfront and seemed to be soaking in the view of the majestic water body that flowed past him. He stood there for more than ten minutes, breathing in the cool air, his feet buried in the golden sand, and then left.

He was back home at 7 p.m. and was not seen for the next three hours. At 10, he came out in a black tracksuit and orange T-shirt and jogged to a PCO about 400 metres from his house. He was out of the booth in less than a minute.