Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), challenged Delhi Police on Monday to release the complete video footage of his detention, claiming the clip published on Sunday was a manipulated version. Speaking to reporters in Hingoli, Dipke argued that the police omitted segments where he repeatedly requested to speak with his cousin and a lawyer, and to use his mobile phone for two minutes.
"Delhi Police, if you have the courage, release the entire video," Dipke stated. He asserted that the right to contact legal counsel is a fundamental legal provision during arrest, a right he claimed was systematically denied. "They did not tell me, my parents or my lawyers where I was being held, which police station I was in or where in the country I had been taken," he added, accusing the force of mental harassment.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (PRO) Neha Yadav countered these allegations on Sunday, stating that Dipke was promptly informed of his grandmother's death while in custody on October 10. "He was also offered all possible assistance to facilitate his travel to his hometown on humanitarian grounds; however, he declined to avail the same," Yadav said. She confirmed that the opportunity to speak with his family was also extended to the CJP convenor.
The standoff follows the preventive arrest of Dipke, Saurav Das, and Ashutosh Ranka by Delhi Police as they landed in Delhi ahead of a planned protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The three were produced before an executive magistrate on Sunday morning and released on the condition that they not breach peace for a year, according to CJP legal affairs head Ratna Singh. Dipke’s family had initially claimed he was never informed of his grandmother’s demise, a narrative the police video sought to refute, triggering this latest round of accusations regarding the integrity of the evidence.