At Arjun’s home in Manggarodi Basti of Nampally, his wife Shakuntala cradles their months-old baby and stares at the dark, grimy corner that once served as the family’s seating and wash area. The space now bears only silence. “He just slipped and disappeared,” says neighbour Pujari Lal, speaking for the family still too stunned to find words. “We were not even aware of it. The CCTV footage from a nearby house showed us what happened,” adds Arjun’s aunt, Anjamma.
Forty-eight hours since the incident, the body of the 26-year-old remains untraced. Officials from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation have only hastily wedged a steel grille across the path to the nala.
