Bullet For Bullet

The riveting memoirs of India’s ‘Supercop’

Julio Ribeiro’s thirty-six-year career in the police force began in the mofussil, where he got to see the quirky underside of small-town life. Thereafter, he tackled organized crime and violence—including, in its worst form, communal riots—with outstanding success in several cities. His appointment as a Commissioner of Police, Bombay, was a fitting pinnacle to a distinguished career. Even so, many gave him only a few months in the top position, convinced that he would not last the intense pressures. He stayed three years, and here he gives us a memorable glimpse of the manner in which he policed a metropolis high on crime and touchy politicians. Bombay, under his charge, was spared the anti-Sikh riots that rocked cities throughout India in 1984.

In 1986, Ribeiro was sent to Punjab as Director General of Police, at the height of terrorist violence in the state. His stint there reinforced the hope of a turnaround in what appeared to be a lost situation, and how he accomplished this forms the high point of this book. Along the way, the author also puts at rest the image created of him as a kind of Rambo patrolling the mean streets. Supercop he was, we gather, but one who never packed a gun.

‘Marked with rare candour and objectivity, Bullet for Bullet is a compelling account of police functioning in a rapidly changing society where distinctions between right and wrong are often blurred’

—Business World

‘Ribeiro keeps readers as glued to the pages as he had kept those he pursued on their toes.’

—Telegraph

‘‘ ‘Marked with rare candour and objectivity, Bullet for Bullet is a compelling account of police functioning in a rapidly changing society where distinctions between right and wrong are often blurred.’ —Business World ‘Ribeiro keeps readers as glued to the pages as he had kept those he pursued on their toes.’—Telegraph