Riots: Ex-IPS officer seeks impartial probe into FIRs

He questions actions against protesters

Demanding impartial probe into cases registered during the riots, which broke out in north-east Delhi in February, retired IPS officer Julio Riberio wrote a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner S.N. Shrivastava on Saturday.

In a letter, he raised question over action taken by Delhi Police against peaceful protesters who “rightly apprehend injustices born from bias and hate against a minority community”.

Mr. Riberio, the former Commissioner of Mumbai Police, in the letter, said: “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. Delhi Police has taken action against peaceful protesters but deliberately failed to register cognisable offences against those who made hate speeches, which triggered the riots in north-east 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.

Eish Singhal, Delhi Police PRO said that an e-mail has been received. Since Mr. Rebeiro has not been in touch with Delhi Police in the recent times, we are trying to ascertain the veracity and the genuineness of the mail.