Delhi Police offered 31‑year‑old founder of the Cockroach Janata Party, Abhijeet Dipke, a flight back to Maharashtra after his grandmother died in Santuk Pimpri village this morning.
Dipke had boarded a flight from Mumbai to Delhi with other CJP leaders to join a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged voter‑roll irregularities. On arrival, police boarded the Air India plane and detained Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka, and Saurav Das.
His parents, Anita and Bhagwanrao Dipke, called the police action wrong and urged him to stay to support the protest. Anita said, "It was wrong," while Bhagwanrao offered full support for his son's decision.
Delhi Police said they had conveyed the news of the grandmother's death to Dipke with sensitivity and provided details of the funeral, offering to arrange his travel back on humanitarian grounds.
Dipke remains in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and faces a choice: return to Hingoli for the last rites or remain in Delhi for the protest scheduled for tomorrow. The CJP has tasked Ajinkya Shinde to lead the march until Dipke and other leaders are freed.