Julio Ribeiro says unavailable, asks Pawar to probe Mumbai ex-CP Singh’s claims

Mumbai, March 21

Former IPS officer Julio Ribeiro on Sunday rejected NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s suggestion that he probe ex-Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh’s claim that Home Minister Anil Deshmukh asked suspended police officer Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore every month.

“I am not available. Nobody (in state government) has contacted me. And in any case even if they contact me, I am unavailable,” Ribeiro told PTI when asked about Pawar’s suggestion.

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“I am 92 years old. Nobody goes around doing this work at the age of 92. If the inquiry is against the home minister of Maharashtra, then Mr Pawar should make it because he is the head of the (ruling) party,” Ribeiro said.

Ribeiro is a former Mumbai police commissioner, who eventually became the chief of Gujarat and Punjab police and was later named India’s ambassador to Romania.

“Why should a retired police officer be asked to do this,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Pawar told reporters in Delhi that he would suggest Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to seek Ribeiro’s help to investigate the claims made by Singh.

In a letter to Thackeray, Param Bir Singh alleged that Anil Deshmukh instructed suspended Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore every month for him. PTI