Delhi Police on Sunday released a video showing Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke being informed of his grandmother’s death while in detention, rejecting allegations by his family that delays in his release prevented him from attending her funeral.
Family Alleges Police Ignored Pleas For Release
His uncle, Vilas Dipke, alleged that the family repeatedly appealed to the police to release him in time for the funeral, but their requests went unanswered. Delhi Police maintained that Dipke was promptly informed about his grandmother’s death and the timing of the funeral. CJP leader Ashutosh Ranka disputed the police’s account. The police’s video release and the family’s allegations have brought the circumstances surrounding Dipke’s detention and the communication of his grandmother’s death into focus.
Officers offered to facilitate his journey home on humanitarian grounds, but he declined the assistance, according to the police. Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, he alleged that Dipke was informed of the death in an “inhumane manner”, with a microphone and camera present.
The police also released footage in which an officer asks Dipke whether he would prefer to travel by plane, train, bus or another mode of transport. Dipke was released from detention on Sunday and left for Maharashtra to be with his family.
Delhi Police DCP and PRO Neha Yadav said officers had offered to help Dipke contact his family and arrange his journey home after learning of the death. “I am going home now to be with my family, as my grandmother has passed away,” he told reporters.
