Why I am scared of being arrested?

It was 10.30 in the morning. I had just woken up and switched on my TV as per my daily routine. Our channel was showing a story of a Ghaziabad youth Ranbir Singh, who was killed in an encounter with police in Dehradun.
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Since it was Live, so I stayed glued to figure out what exactly had happened before switching to another channel. I had almost forgotten about the story till I reached office in the evening and heard that it was indeed a fake encounter, or at least it was alleged.
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This made me think about the various cases of police atrocities in different parts of the country.
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Every other day we hear about custodial deaths, manhandling and cases of corruption related with the police. It is very difficult to come across a polite policeman, no matter what position he holds.
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Things are even more difficult if you happen to be a Muslim in capital city of India. You are at risk of branded “Pakistani” anytime for anything. Don’t blame me for playing up my religious identity. It is a fact.
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I can easily recall one stunning incident, which left me wondering how safe I am in my own country from the people who are supposed to protect us.
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It was in the second year of my college. I was riding a friend’s bike with him sitting as the pillion. Suddenly near South Extension flyover, a policeman gestured towards me to stop. I stopped not knowing what is going to happen next.
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A burly looking policeman walked up to me, took away the bike keys and asked my name. I meekly replied. <i>“Pakistani hai kya tu?”</i> (Are you a Pakistani), he said, laughing out loud.
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Even though he left me after checking all my documents including my driving license, bike papers and college ID; the incident left me scared of the Delhi Police.
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So now, one can very well imagine that if this is the mindset of the police in a metropolitan town like Delhi, then what could be the case in remote areas.
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And since terrorists have made it easy, every Muslim criminal can easily be branded as “Pakistani”. It’s not that I support criminals or terrorists, but there could be cases when police can easily arrest an innocent man and brand him a terrorist. No one can rule out this possibility.
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And I am not only concerned about Muslims. People cutting across religious line face the wrath of police who in a hurry to solve the case tries to find a face to show before media. Aarushi murder case, Jaipur blast case etc. are among the glaring examples of police mis-investigation.
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The solution at the end of the day cannot be wrong conclusion to cases just because a file needs to close. But a proper investigative procedure and a much required change of mentality in the police force. Else, for us Indians, justice will continue to be made the casualty.