Ex-top cop Julio Ribeiro says unavailable to probe Param Bir Singh's claims, asks Sharad Pawar to do so

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

Former IPS officer Julio Ribeiro on Sunday rejected Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar's suggestion to investigate ex-Mumbai police commissioner 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 said when asked about Pawar's suggestion, as reported by news agency PTI."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 added. "Why should a retired police officer be asked to do this," he asked.Ribeiro is a former Mumbai police commissioner, who later became the chief of Gujarat and Punjab police.He was also named India's ambassador to Romania, the PTI report said. Earlier in the day, Sharad Pawar in a presser said would suggest Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to seek Julio Ribeiro’s help to probe the claims made by Param Bir Singh.In a letter to Uddav Thackeray, Param Bir Singh on Sunday stoked a major controversy alleging that Anil Deshmukh instructed suspended Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore every month for him. (With PTI inputs)