26 Ex-IPS Officers Write to Julio Ribeiro Supporting Delhi Police

The former cops criticise Ribeiro ‘and his associates’ for coming out in support of Umar Khalid.

Former Mumbai Comissioner of Police Julio Ribeiro (left); Police detain a protester protesting against the UP Police’s brutality during Citizenship Act Protests. (Right)

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Twenty-six former IPS officers have now written to Julio Ribeiro in defence of the Delhi Police just days after the veteran cop wrote to the Delhi Police Commissioner seeking answers on the investigation into the February riots in the state. The letter signed by the former cops criticises Ribeiro "and his associates" for coming out in support of Umar Khalid.

“At the outset, Mr Riberio, who coined the famous phrase ‘BULLET FOR A BULLET’ while working on deputation in the militancy ridden Punjab, should not have supported such kind of anti-India expression and communal narrative.”

Excerpt from the letter 

The letter further added that the Delhi Police has every right and duty to probe the role of any such person, and custodial investigation is a part of the due process of law.

“The accused has his rights under the law to seek anticipatory bail or regular bail, as the case may be, and the right to a fair trial where he can prove himself innocent,” the letter added.

Some of the officers who signed the letter included, former IPS officers B.L. Vohra, P.C. Dogra, Alok Shrivastava, S. Gopinath, Praveen Dixit, Umesh Kumar and others. The officers further added that such posturing could demotivate police officers.

“A section of former police officers cannot usurp for themselves the office of Presiding Officers of the Courts to declare anyone innocent and try to put the police force in bad light. These officers have no right to suspect or question the integrity and professionalism of their successors in the Indian Police Service, and in turn demoralise them.”

Excerpt from the letter 

The latest letter comes after Ribeiro earlier wrote to Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava, seeking answers on whether the probe into the February riots in Delhi was being conducted without any discrimination. Lamenting the “unfairness" of the probe, Ribeiro wrote that “true patriots" are being entangled in criminal cases in a "not-so-subtle" manner.