Parents Blame Delhi Police Delay for Missed Funeral
Abhijeet Dipke's parents allege Delhi Police delay prevented him from attending his grandmother's final rites in Maharashtra.
The parents of Abhijeet Dipke have expressed profound heartbreak and frustration, alleging that the Delhi Police failed to show necessary leniency, preventing their son from attending his grandmother's funeral rites in Maharashtra.
The family claims that a lack of timely intervention by law enforcement meant that Dipke could not pay his final respects to his grandmother, Savitribai Shankarrao Dipke, who passed away at the age of 85 following a long illness.
A Family's Grief and Allegations of Inflexibility
Speaking from Hingoli, Maharashtra, Bhagwan Dipke, the father of the detained leader, voiced his disappointment regarding the police's handling of the situation. He suggested that the authorities could have exercised compassion by allowing his son to attend the ceremony under specific conditions.
"If they had released him on time—or even released him on the condition that he had to return to Delhi after the funeral—he certainly could have come to see his grandmother," Bhagwan Dipke stated. He further alleged that the police mishandled information and failed to provide the necessary window for the family's bereavement.
Abhijeet's mother, Anita Dipke, echoed these sentiments, noting that the family had expected him to travel from Mumbai to Hingoli on Saturday night to be present for the final rites. She argued that the police should have prioritized the family's tragic circumstances, stating, "They should have let him go first... the Delhi Police could have shown some leniency and let him go; it would have been a relief to us."
The Context of the Detention
The incident began on October 10, 2026, when Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. He was traveling from Mumbai alongside party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to participate in a planned protest at Jantar Mantar.
The protest was intended to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. However, the group was detained by the Delhi Police shortly after landing.
Conflicting Accounts of the Release
While the family maintains that their requests for his release were ignored, the Delhi Police have offered a different perspective. According to official statements, the police informed Dipke of his grandmother's passing and offered assistance to help him travel to Maharashtra for the last rites.
Despite these claims, the final rites were conducted on the morning of October 11 while Dipke remained in custody. Although he was eventually released and has since departed for Maharashtra to reunite with his family, the missed opportunity to bid farewell to his grandmother remains a source of deep resentment for his parents.