Ribeiro said he thought about what he would do if he was in Shrivastava’s place and had to “dispel the doubts that your retired brother officers still have about Delhi Police investigation into the NE Delhi riots”.

Delhi Police Commissioner S N

Retired IPS officer Julio Ribeiro Wednesday responded to Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava’s email response to his open letter, saying he had not addressed Ribeiro’s “doubts” on why BJP leaders Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma’s “communal” speeches were being ignored while probing the Delhi riots.

“I realise that it is difficult, indeed impossible, to justify the licence given to the three BJP stalwarts I named — licence to rant, rave and threaten those were peacefully protesting perceived wrongs. If the speakers were Muslims or Leftists, the police would have surely taken them in for sedition,” wrote Ribeiro, who was former Mumbai police commissioner, DGP Gujarat and Punjab, and former Indian Ambassador to Romania.

He also said Shrivastava “doubted the patriotism” of activists Harsh Mander and DU Professor Apoorvanand who he had named as “true patriots”. “Harsh and Apoorvanand are Gandhians. I should have remembered that Gandhians have lost favour with this regime!” he said.

Ribeiro said he thought about what he would do if he was in Shrivastava’s place and had to “dispel the doubts that your retired brother officers still have about Delhi Police investigation into the NE Delhi riots”.

“I would quickly file the chargesheet in all 753 cases, including specially the conspiracy case registered by your Special Cell and get the evidence authenticated in a court of Law. More importantly, I would not prolong the UAPA case by arresting persons just a day or two before the time limit expires for filing the chargesheet,” he wrote.

In his original open letter, Ribeiro had said the Delhi Police was taking action against “peaceful protesters” while ignoring senior BJP leaders who made provocative, communal public speeches in the build-up to the violence while “true patriots” like Harsh Mander and Apoorvanand were being entangled in criminal cases.

In response, Shrivastava had defended the investigation saying the police “had questioned persons without regard to their religion and party affiliation” and “collected documentary evidence, including scientific evidence, to support its case”.

“While we do not differentiate a complainant on the basis of caste or religion, it may be mentioned solely for the purpose of clearing any doubt in the minds of people questioning our probe, that more than 410 FIRs were registered on the complaints of minority community. The other community accounted for over 190 FIRs. The remaining were registered on the basis of daily diary entries,” he had written.

The Delhi Police did not respond to the retired IPS officer’s latest statement

In his letter, Julio Ribeiro has said that the Delhi Police is taking action against “peaceful protesters” while ignoring senior BJP leaders who made provocative, communal public speeches in the build-up to the violence. “True patriots” are being entangled in criminal cases, he wrote.

XThe riots in Northeast Delhi had left 53 dead and resulted in severe loss of livelihood. (Express Archive)

Retired IPS officer Julio Ribeiro, who was former Mumbai police commissioner, DGP Gujarat and Punjab, and former Indian Ambassador to Romania, has written to Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava, questioning the probe into the Northeast Delhi riots cases. More than 100 chargesheets 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.

In his letter, Ribeiro has said that the Delhi Police is taking action against “peaceful protesters” while ignoring senior BJP leaders who made provocative, communal public speeches in the build-up to the violence. “True patriots” are being entangled in criminal cases, he wrote.

“I write to you with a heavy heart. As a true patriot and a former proud member of the Indian Police Service, I appeal to you to ensure a fair probe into the 753 FIRs registered against peaceful protesters who rightly apprehend injustices born from bias and hate against a minority community. The Delhi Police has taken action against peaceful protesters but deliberately failed to register cognizable offences against those who made hate speeches which triggered the riots in Northeast Delhi. It troubles sane and apolitical persons, like me, why Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma have not been arraigned before the courts of law while deeply hurt Muslim women, peacefully protesting against discriminations based on religion, were lodged for months together in jail,” he wrote.

“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. Kindly revisit the actions of the police under your command in Delhi to determine if they have been true to their oaths taken at the time of their induction into service,” he said.

When contacted, Delhi Police spokesperson Dr Eish Singhal said, “An email purportedly sent by Sri Julio Ribeiro has been received today in which he has raised concerns regarding the investigation of Northeast Riots. Sri Ribeiro is a respected police officer. Since the officer in whose name the email has been received has not been in touch with Delhi Police in the recent times and especially in the past six months, we are trying to ascertain the veracity and the genuineness of the mail.

courtesy IE