The short cut took them through a narrow alley, which snaked through a maze of concrete and stone-mud structures. The alley was typically dark even during the day as it was shadowed by overhanging balconies and awnings. It was so narrow that in order for two people to cross one another, one of them would have to press back against the wall while the other passed.

When they were halfway down the alley, the brothers heard the sounds of light footfalls and whispers. Vishu slowed down and then halted.

‘Wait, Anna … there seems to be a big group ahead at the turn. We will have to make way for them,’ he said.

‘Okay, no sweat, bro,’ Atharv said.

Within seconds, the group of passersby became visible. Six men, all taller than Vishu, were standing not ten metres ahead, one behind the other as if in a queue. One of them, standing at the end of the queue, had a black shawl draped around his shoulders. The man who stood at the head of the group indicated that he and the five others would take to the wall, while Vishu and Atharv passed by them.

The brothers had almost slipped past the group, without a word being spoken by anybody, when the man in the shawl suddenly pushed Atharv, who fell to the ground. Taken aback by what had just happened, Atharv turned towards the man who had pushed him, when Vishu let out a blood-curdling scream.

‘Aaaaahh, Anna, he is hurting … stabbing me.’

Atharv sprang to his feet and rushed to save Vishu. He landed a few punches on the man assaulting Vishu, when somebody hit his head with what felt like an iron rod.

As Atharv collapsed, the world became dark in front of his eyes. Through his blurred, dimming vision, he could see two of the men holding Vishu by his arms as the man with a dagger kept assaulting the fifteen-year-old drone-maker.

Suddenly, Atharv received a kick in his stomach. The man with the dagger was now standing over him, kicking him.

‘Son of a bitch! This is a message from those mourning the death of our brother, Sadiq. You must suffer as we suffer. You must cry for your brother, as we do for Sadiq,’ the man with the dagger was screaming, kicking Atharv in the stomach maniacally till he lost consciousness.

Twenty minutes after the two brothers had been assaulted and lay unconscious in a heap, with Vishu in a pool of blood, they were found by Joseph, who had decided to deliver the drone’s batteries to his friend himself after the latter did not turn up at the scheduled time. Joseph screamed for help and a man who lived nearby called for the police and an ambulance.

Hours later, Atharv regained consciousness in the same hospital that had released Sadiq the previous night.

Vishu, however, did not make it.