Let’s start from the initial step. How did Mumbai Police get to know of it ?

Initially they said the driver was drinking at a night bar and boastfully let it out, a police mukhbir (accomplice) overheard it. He reported it and an alert Mumbai Police officer started the chase. Placed driver on surveillance, detained him later placed Indrani on surveillance and detained her when she arrived in Mumbai. But then days later Police commissioner Maria himself told a reporter that he was phoned in by a person informing of the crime and that’s when and that’s how the investigations started.

Somebody was lying.

Police commissioner on Friday said “…the third accused has admitted to the crime…”. The third person being Sanjeev Khanna (Indrani’s ex- husband), the other two were Indrani and the driver Shyam Rai or Shyamwar Rai . A day later the police sources claimed Indrani had not admitted to the crime yet.

Police claimed it had proof and that Sheena’s resignation letter was sent by Indrani’s staff and that the letter to her landlord was signed by Indrani herself.

Mikhail Bora enters the scene and claims he knows the game and the motive. He meets Mumbai police and everything changes once again. Now they say Mikhail sent letters to Sheena’s office and to the landlord. Also Mikhail kept operating Sheena‘s social media accounts including LinkedIn and Facebook until two weeks back. Mikhail had earlier claimed he couldn’t contact Sheena over Facebook.

Mumbai police categorically stated it had a very clear knowledge of motive behind the crime now they say they haven’t a clue. They earlier floated the ‘five husbands theory’ and that Sheena and Mikhail were born of Indrani ‘s unmarried relation with a certain Shillong teacher named Chirag. Now that is debunked thoroughly and it is not clear if such a person ever existed.

Sunday evening police sources told some reporters that Siddhartha Das, father of Sheena and her brother and Indrani’s ‘first husband tipped the Mumbai police of the crime and that he was the person Police Commissioner talked about. By late evening “police sources” suspected that Siddartha Das who hasn’t been seen in past ten years could be dead too and that they were probing Indrani connection to his disappearance.

There are at least 20 other instances of completely contradictory or downright ridiculous claims.

Has Mumbai Police lost the plot already? Or are they playing the Aarushi game through a largely uncritical media willing to lap up anything that feeds its insatiable thirst for sensation and titillation?

Further nearly all reports mention “police sources”. What is the need to maintain anonymity of source when the source is the investigating agency, namely, the police? The police is clearly playing the media. The episode raises serious concerns on integrity of both the institutions- media and the police.