Attack on Police Chief Julio Ribeiro 1986

 

The attack on Ribeiro was not something that happened out of nowhere. The way he was operating in Punjab, trying to finish the Sikhs, he had basically made every Sikh his enemy. He had even made those his enemy who were wholeheartedly against the Sikh freedom movement. A person’s mentality would fall more when the government or its police force commits acts of terrorism compared to a member of public committing acts of terrorism, and as a result the government would be held accountable for an increase in terrorism activities. Stopping terrorism with fierce cannot be seen as a mistake, but to stop terrorism by carrying out fake encounters, falsely arresting innocent people, and torturing them cannot be the solution to fight against Sikh freedom movement. After the attack on Ribeiro, he said that he was saved by Waheguru because he is trying to fight against those who kill innocent people. But justice for innocent lives cannot be achieved by killing other innocent people, which was the way Ribeiro had chosen.

 

Possibly, Ribeiro didn’t agree with what some of the Police officers in lower positions, such as Thanedars (police station in charge), and other small police ranks, were doing. Some of them were just picking up Punjabi youth to make extra money. Picking up people based off a suspicion of violence and then killing them could only be the work and policy of the police, which Ribeiro was bringing to life. In the third week of October, I (author) know about 3 so called terrorists getting arrested up and killed in a fake encounter. They were Bhai Harpal Singh Pappu, Bhai Kuldeep Singh Pappu, and Bhai Avtar Singh Pahra. Even though the government was saying that Bhai Harpal Singh Pappu and Bhai Kuldeep Singh Pappu were killed in an encounter with the Border Security Force (BSF) and that Bhai Avtar Singh Pahra had managed to escape, however the way they (government/police) were working it could be said he was also dead.

 

When the arrest of Bhai Kuldeep Singh Pappu was announced his relatives quickly found out that he was being kept at Dharamkot police station. The police had refused their family to meet them, but the family had brought milk for him. Bhai Kuldeep Singh Pappu had sent a message from inside telling his family to leave or else they will kill him and throw him away. This happened on 16th of October. The relatives had stayed in the proximity of the police station and walked around. Finally, the police told their family that they would appear in court at Zira the following day on 17th of October. The family then went to Zira but Bhai Kuldeep Singh Pappu was not brought to court. The family went back to Dharamkot police station to find out and that is when the police told them that Bhai Kuldeep Singh Pappu had escaped from the police. But the family found out that Bhai Kuldeep Singh Pappu was actually killed on the night of 16th October. I (author) received all of this news on the 18th of October, but how could the family of Bhai Kuldeep Singh Pappu believe that he was killed in an encounter with the BSF on 19th of October?

 

There were dozens of fake encounters like these, where Sikh youth were killed based off of just a suspicion of their involvement in the Khalistan movement. These victims were called the killers of innocents by the government, but for the Sikh nation, these victims were the real innocents. Amongst these victims, there were many who were killed even though they had no allegations of violence on them. From 12th to 19th of October, 6 youth were killed in the same way, in an encounter with the BSF.

 

Maybe government workers and people from cities did not see anything wrong with these killings by the BSF as they would often read the newspapers and believe them. But those Sikhs who were politically up to date knew exactly what was happening. Nor were these stories able to be kept hidden by some police officers and soldiers. Due to what Ribeiro was doing to the Sikh nation, especially Sikh youth, every Sikh was against him and had great amount of anger at him. If the normal Sikh kept this mentality of Ribeiro, then definitely some Punjab Police or Armed Police personnel would have the same mentality against him, and later the attack on Ribeiro and his wife was done by officers with that same mentality at the Punjab Armed Police headquarters, Jalandhar. In this attack Ribeiro got away unharmed but his wife was injured. It can be said that Ribeiro survived because he kept a clear mind and straight away laid down on the floor, playing a dead corpse as soon as the bullets started being fired.

 

 

The Punjab Armed Police headquarter is in Jalandhar and situated on GT Road (Grand Trunk Road). It is off this road that the P.A.P headquarters gate numbers 1 and 2 are situated. Around the headquarters is a very tall wall which is hard to jump over. On the backside of the P.A.P complex there is a rail line. Both gates are kept closed and secured at all times. Ribeiro’s attackers came through gate number 1. The news given in the newspapers saying that the attackers entered through gate number 4 is wrong because it is said by the P.A.P headquarters that no car can enter through gate number 4. In the morning, at roughly 6:45am on 3rd October 1986, the attackers easily entered through the gate which all officers go through. The attackers were wearing police uniforms. They were in a Jeep which had Police written on it. The attackers had different badges and stars on their uniforms, and the highest-ranking star they had was for D.S.P (Deputy Superintendent of Police).

 

This car went and stopped near the officer’s canteen/food area. Ribeiro and his wife, Melba were walking in the area inside of the canteen/food area. The attackers could see the couple. As soon as the attackers arrived, they asked the guard standing at the door to inspect their rifles, and the guard took the magazine out of the rifle straight away. Then the attackers quickly fired bullets towards Rebeiro using automatic weapons, and the whole area filled with fear. A CRPF (Central Reserve Police) officer ran to either save himself or to call more officers but was shot and killed by the attackers. At this point Ribeiro had laid down playing a dead corpse and his wife Melba was wounded in the leg. The attackers may have thought that he had died. They left the Jeep where it was and escaped by foot through a broken part of the wall on the backside. Ahead was a truck which they sat in and escaped along the railway line. No one went after them, and no one found the courage to fire back at them. The attackers rushed their escape and did not wait to confirm whether their mission was successful. Maybe the attackers didn’t know that there was a heavy presence of CRPF officers, and they probably did expect to face some retaliation.

 

Straight after the attack on Ribeiro, it was said that the attack was done by Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and his associates. Then it was said that General Labh Singh alias Sukhdev Singh Sukha Sipahi (Chief General of Khalistan Commando Force), and his associates Bhai Sewa Singh Sipahi and Bhai Tarsem Singh Kala Singhian) had come from Canada and were part of the attack on Ribeiro. There was also suspicion on Bhai Dhanna Singh from the five-member Panthic Committee for this attack. It was later said that young officer from the P.A.P (Punjab Armed Police) was also part of the planning of this attack, Bhai Jatinderpal Singh Billa. He had provided the uniforms to the attackers, and after the attack he had resigned from the P.A.P and announced that he had joined the Khalistan Commando Force.

 

The truck which the attackers had used to escape was dropped off near Kapurthala. The owner of the truck, Rajinder Kaur and her husband, were arrested from Amritsar. They told the police that one day before the attack, Panthic Committee member, Bhai Wassan Singh Zaffarwal had asked for the truck to be brought to Chownk Mehta. The truck driver was his nephew and was quite close with Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Bhindranwale, and is on the run these days. One P.A.P Sub inspector, Gurbachan Singh, was arrested. It was suspected that he gave inside knowledge to the attackers.

 

The way the attack was planned and how courageously it was executed made it clear that the attackers were very brave and determined. From the great planning it can be said that the attackers had help from the inside, someone who knew about Ribeiro’s program very well.

 

 

Sant Sipahi – November 1986