In the last week, three senior police officers in Gujarat have been arrested for the death of one man in a fake encounter. Media analysts suspect that officials higher up were probably also involved.

The man’s wife has been missing and the government has not been able to produce the woman in court. Some government sources suggest that the woman has also been killed. And now, it seems, the Chief Minister might be coming out in defense of all of these events.

These snippets were reported in the national media in India in the last 5 days. This perhaps is the first instance where three senior officers have been arrested in a clear instance of the administration getting rid of someone (who is perhaps inconvenient). It is commendable that the courts have stepped up to demand accountability. However, this analysis argues that perhaps murkier waters lie underneath.

A couple of weeks ago, an Urdu newspaper from Mumbai reported that two Superintendents of Police from Maharashtra had attempted to set up a fake arms heist by paying an informer. A petition is apparently being prepared to be filed in court.

Yet, neither the state nor the central government has responded. Neither has any investigation been initiated on these charges nor have any statements been made showing that these charges are fake. At a time when the credibility of police is not high – especially vis-à-vis religious biases – some action is necessary. It is also noteworthy that the national media has not followed up on this either.

In the not so recent past, the Supreme Court released Prof Geelani and dismissed charges of conspiracy against him. There were numerous incidences of fake evidence that the Delhi police could not explain. While Geelani was dismissed (after he had served years for fake charges and had been tortured) it is important to note that neither the Delhi government nor the central government instituted extensive investigation into the processes followed by Delhi police, the evidence being fake and Geelani being set up. It is also significant that the media has not held the government or the police accountable on this either.

These are only examples from cases that have national focus. There are numerous other examples where rights activists, or activists from all hues of ideology have been threatened with fake encounters by the police and are thus in hiding. For example, activists fighting against feudal powers in UP, those supporting land distribution or rights of the landless farmers are threatened by feudal powers. In addition, they are threatened with death by police. In another example, the police summarily killed a naxalite in MP who had come forward to surrender and then raped his wife who had convinced him to surrender.

And we have not even begun to list similar examples in Kashmir or in the North East.

We are seeing an increasingly disturbing trend where the police is playing the role of the courts and the governments and the governments are encouraging this role for political expediency. The current case in Gujarat highlights the rot that exists. The media has also been responsible for not holding these institutions accountable – no, the media’s role in exposing the case in Gujarat does not exonerate it from its broader responsibilities.

In addition, the processes used by the police are also instructive. Armed men picked up the couple Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi from a bus. Clearly, this was an example of state forces using intimidation tactics. After the killing, documents suggest that Kausar Bi was taken to Sabarkantha district – one of the arrested officers knows that region well. She was kept there, then killed and burnt. Surely, it is not trivial in India to murder someone and burn their body? Again, the state agency uses intimidation of civilians to achieve this. It is also significant to note that the police was confident that they could keep this under wraps. Where does this confidence come from? Have similar processes been tried before?

We need an investigation not just into this case but into police processes in general – the use of torture, intimidation of those arrested as well as of civilians and the nexus between politicians and the police. We need a broader public debate on the role and the powers of the police. Unfortunately, the media does not seem to be demanding this broader discussion.

As a democracy, it is absolutely important that those arrested by the police find justice in the court – not in a mock political process or in a fake encounter. The police’s role is to arrest these individuals if they are charged by law – the police can have no role in passing judgment. And in all of these cases, that is exactly what they are doing.

If the police or the government believes that it can bring greater stability to the country through such methods that bypass democratic processes, they are incorrect. They will only lead to a police state.