Julio Francis Ribeiro (born 5 May 1929, in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

) is a retired

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

and civil servant. He held increasingly responsible positions during his career, and led the Punjab Police during part of the

Punjab insurgency {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Insurgency in Punjab , image = Punjab in India (claimed and disputed hatched).svg , caption = Affected areas coloured in Red , image_size = 300px , date ...

periods. In 1987, he was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, India's third highest

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...

award for his services. Ribeiro Haas

Career

Ribeiro joined the

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service (I ...

in 1953 and rose to be the Commissioner of Mumbai Police from 1982 to 1986. He was promoted to Director General of

Central Reserve Police Force The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a federal police organisation in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. It is one among the Central Armed Police F ...

, then to Director General Police of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. Ribeiro served as Director General of Punjab Police during its worst years of terrorism in Punjab.

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

reported that in the 1980s, Ribeiro led the Punjab police in a "ferocious crackdown" on Sikh militants, in a policy christened "bullet for bullet" by

Arun Nehru Arun Kumar Nehru (24 April 1944 – 25 July 2013) was an Indian politician and columnist. He was member of the 9th Lok Sabha from Bilhaur as a Janata Dal leader. Earlier, he was member of the 7th and 8th Lok Sabhas from Rae Bareli on an In ...

. He held positions such as Special

Secretary to the Government of India Secretary to the Government of India, often abbreviated as Secretary, GoI, or simply as Secretary, is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India. The authority for the creation of this post solely rests with ...

in the

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

and Adviser to the Governor of Punjab. Ribeiro also served as

n Ambassador to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

from 1989 until 1993. In August 1991, Ribeiro was attacked and wounded in a

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

assassination attempt by gunmen identified as

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

i Sikhs. In an April 2006 interview with

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *'' Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *'' Kokomo Tribune'' *'' Peru Tribune'' * ''The Tri ...

, Julio Ribeiro explained that "It has been a role reversal for me... from fighting militants to fighting the corrupt administration." He went on to explain that while he had been offered positions in government, "Fighting with guns was no longer my cup of tea; and I wanted to work for the people of my city, Mumbai. I wanted to be useful to lower socio-economic classes, and thus decided to work at the grass roots level." He also serves as non-executive Director to

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Mumbai, India. History it was founded in 1977 by Gracias Saldanha as a generic drug and active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer; he na ...

and as a Director of IIT Corporate Services Ltd. He is usually interviewed for his views on communal harmony.

1986 assassination attempt

In the early morning of 3 October 1986, 6 men in police disguise, identified in the press as Sikh militantshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZNETAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4036,1046106&dq=ribeiro+sikh attacked Ribeiro inside the headquarters of Punjab Police in the city of Jalandhar, Punjab, India. One guard was killed. Ribeiro, his wife, and four other police and paramilitary officers were injured. Ribeiro's wound was minor, but his wife was hospitalized. All six attackers escaped in a waiting truck. The

Khalistan Commando Force The Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) is a militant Khalistani organisation operating in the state of Punjab with prominent members based in Canada, the United Kingdom and Pakistan. Its objective is the creation of a Sikh independent state of Khali ...

(KCF) later claimed responsibility of this attack. KCF leader

Labh Singh Sukhdev Singh Dhillon (1952 – 12 July 1988), best known as Labh Singh and also known as Sukha Sipahi and General Labh Singh, was a former Punjab police officer turned militant who took command of the Khalistan Commando Force after its first le ...

allegedly led the assassination attempt.

1991 assassination attempt

In August 1991, Ribeiro, then

n Ambassador to

was attacked and wounded in a

assassination attempt by gunmen identified as

i Sikhs.

Personal life

Julio Ribeiro is married to Melba Ribeiro, has two daughters Nina and Anna, and lives in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, India. Ribeiro titled his autobiography ''Bullet for Bullet: My Life as a Police Officer.''

References

External links

Profile of Julio Ribeiro
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ribeiro, Julio Francis Living people Insurgency in Punjab 1929 births Police Commissioners of Mumbai Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in civil service Victims of Sikh terrorism Ambassadors of India to Romania