‘Riot Probe Targets Patriots’: Julio Ribeiro Tells Delhi Police

Ex-IPS officer Julio Ribeiro has written to Delhi Police Commissioner to ensure a fair probe into the Delhi riots.

Retired IPS officer Julio Ribeiro has written to Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava to ensure a fair probe into the Northeast Delhi riots cases.

(Photo: The Quint)

Retired IPS officer Julio Ribeiro has written to Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava asking him to ensure a fair probe into the Northeast Delhi riots cases.

Questioning the ongoing probe, in his letter, Ribeiro, who’s also served as the former Indian Ambassador to Romania, said that the Delhi Police is taking action against “peaceful protesters” while "deliberately failing to register cognisable offences against those who made hate speeches which triggered the riots in N.E. Delhi”.

The Delhi Police, on Saturday, confirmed receiving the letter but added that they are verifying the veracity of the mail. However, The Quint has independently verified from Ribeiro himself that the letter was indeed sent by him.

Despite ample video evidences against them, the Delhi Police has claimed that non-cognisable offence had been found to be committed by BJP leaders like Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma who have been named by Ribeiro in his letter.

Lamenting the ‘unfairness’ of the probe, Ribeiro wrote that “true patriots” are being entangled in criminal cases in a “not-so-subtle” manner.

“The not-so-subtle attempt by the Delhi Police to entangle true patriots, like Harsh Mander and Prof. Apoorvanand, in criminal cases, is another matter for concern. We, the police forces in the land, and its leadership drawn from the Indian Police Service, have a duty and obligation to respect the Constitution and the enacted laws, impartially without regard to caste, creed and political affiliations.”

Retired IPS Officer Julio Ribeiro in his letter

More than 100 charge sheets have been filed and around 1,400 people have been arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch and Northeast district police in connection with the riots.

But even as the Delhi Police’s investigation into the NE riots continues to face criticisms over allegations of being biased, recently, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav, economist Jayati Ghosh, Delhi University professor and activist Apoorvanand and documentary filmmaker Rahul Roy were named as co-conspirators in a supplementary charge sheet filed in the northeast Delhi riots case.

The police said that it has been mentioned in one of the news reports that the names are part of the disclosure statement of one of the accused in connection with organising and addressing anti-CAA protests.

“It is worth mentioning that the disclosure statement has been truthfully recorded as narrated by the accused person. A person is not arraigned as an accused only on the basis of a disclosure statement. However, it is only on the existence of sufficient corroborative evidence that further legal action is taken. The matter is currently sub-judice," a senior Delhi Police officer said.

(With inputs from IANS)