In the early minutes of June 26, 2018, south Bengaluru had settled into the kind of silence that comes only after midnight—when traffic thins, shops shut, and the city briefly pauses. A car moved along the stretch connecting JP Nagar and Electronics City, carrying three young men on their way home after a late outing. There was nothing unusual about the drive, nothing to suggest that it would soon turn into a murder investigation that would take nearly seven years to resolve. The car slowed near BTM Layout 16th Main and pulled over as the men decided to wait for other friends to catch up. Siddharth Koushal, 26, stepped out briefly. In that moment, a motorcycle passed through the narrow stretch and brushed against him, grazing his elbow. It was the kind of minor contact that rarely lingers—an everyday occurrence on city roads. He turned and asked the riders to be careful. What followed was unforeseeable. The motorcycle stopped.…