‘Should have remembered Gandhians have lost favour with this regime: Ribeiro’s response to Delhi top cop

New Delhi, Sep 16 ( IANS ) A day after Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava replied to an email by retired IPS officer Julio Ribeiro about the investigation by the Delhi Police into the North East Delhi riots, Ribeiro has reverted and said his doubts in the open letter have not yet been addressed by Shrivastava.

"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 who are peacefully protesting perceived wrongs. If the speakers were Muslims or leftists the police would have surely taken them in for sedition !" Ribeiro wrote to Shrivastava.

He further added: "After talking to you on the phone and perusing your letter I have decided to put myself in your shoes! How would I dispel the doubts that your retired brother officers still have about the Delhi Police investigations in North East riots? I would quickly file the charge sheets in all the 753 cases, including specially the conspiracy case registered by your Special cell and get the evidence authenticated in a court of Law."

"More pertinently I would not prolong the UAPA case by arresting persons just a day or two before the time limit expires for filing the charge-sheet," he wrote.

The former IPS further added: "I note in your email to me that you have doubted the patriotism of the three who I named as 'True patriots'. The three include Harsh Mander, Prof. Apoorvanand and me. I have not described one else as such and hence my surmise. Harsh and Apoorvanand are Gandhians. I should have remembered that Gandhians have lost favour with this regime!"

The response came after Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava backed the investigation of its force in a reply to doubts raised by Ribeiro and said that a false narrative of the riots investigation was being created.

Source: IANS