A FAMILY’S FINAL FAREWELL MISSED: CJP FOUNDER ABHIJEET DIPKE’S GRANDMOTHER CREMATED BEFORE HIS RELEASE FROM DELHI POLICE CUSTODY

October 11, 2026

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke missed his paternal grandmother’s funeral in Maharashtra after being detained by Delhi Police ahead of the party’s proposed demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, triggering conflicting accounts from his family and the police over whether he was informed in time and offered an opportunity to travel home.

Dipke’s grandmother, Savitribai Shankarrao Dipke, aged 85, died in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district on Saturday following a prolonged illness. Her last rites were performed on Sunday morning, by which time the CJP leader had been released from preventive detention but was unable to attend the funeral.

The family alleged that Delhi Police did not release Dipke despite repeated appeals made after his grandmother’s death. His uncle, Vilas Dipke, said the family had pleaded with the police at least 10 times to allow Abhijeet to return home so that he could attend the final rites.

“I pleaded with the Delhi police with folded hands at least 10 times to release Abhijeet so he could attend the funeral, as we were waiting for him,” Vilas said. He added that although his nephew was eventually released, it was too late for him to reach the funeral. The family said Dipke would at least be able to be present to collect his grandmother’s ashes.

Dipke’s mother had also accused Delhi Police of misleading the public, alleging that her son had not been informed of the death and had been unreachable while in custody. The family’s account raised questions about the communication and arrangements made for a detainee facing a personal bereavement.

Delhi Police rejected the allegations. In a statement, the force said information about the death had been conveyed to Dipke promptly and sensitively, and that he had also been told the scheduled time of the funeral. According to the police, he was offered all possible assistance on humanitarian grounds to facilitate travel to his hometown but declined the offer.

The contradictory accounts placed the circumstances surrounding Dipke’s missed farewell at the centre of a fresh dispute, with the family alleging that its appeals were unsuccessful and police maintaining that assistance had been offered and refused.

Dipke, along with CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, had been detained ahead of the party’s planned protest in New Delhi demanding Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The three were produced before an Executive Magistrate on Sunday and released on the condition that they would not breach the peace for one year.

The CJP and opposition parties have criticised the police action, arguing that the detentions were intended to prevent demonstrators from assembling. Authorities, meanwhile, have cited public-order concerns and the absence of permission for the proposed gathering.

The controversy over Dipke’s grandmother’s funeral has added a deeply personal dimension to the wider confrontation over the planned demonstration. While the police insist that they informed him and offered travel assistance, his family maintains that repeated appeals to secure his release came to nothing before the funeral took place.

As the CJP renewed its call for a protest at Jantar Mantar, security in the capital remained heightened, with more than 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel expected to be deployed. The dispute over electoral-roll revision continued, but for Dipke’s family, the immediate loss was personal: he was unable to attend the final rites of the grandmother whose death occurred while he remained in detention.