Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke’s grandmother, Savitribai Dipke, died in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district on Saturday morning. This comes as Dipke and his colleagues were detained by Delhi Police on arrival in the capital for the party’s planned Jantar Mantar protest.
Dipke's grandmother, who had been unwell, lived in the family’s native village of Santuk Pimpri. Dipke had travelled from Mumbai to Delhi to join the October 10 demonstration demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
The CJP said police detained Dipke and fellow leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka from their aircraft shortly after it landed.
Parents To Travel To Hingoli For Last Rites
Dipke’s parents, Bhagwan Dipke and Anita Dipke, were at their home in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar when the death occurred. They are scheduled to travel to Hingoli for the last rites.
Police personnel have been deployed outside the parents’ residence amid the CJP protests. It was not immediately clear when Dipke would return home.
Father Questions Detention From Aircraft
Bhagwan Dipke criticised the police action, saying that removing someone from a flight for raising issues of national interest went against democracy.
He demanded that the authorities explain the legal grounds for his son’s detention from the aircraft. He also questioned the agencies’ priorities, asking whether terrorists and drug smugglers escaped their attention, News 18 reported.
CJP Names Ajinkya Shinde To Lead Protest
The CJP’s demonstration concerns alleged manipulation of electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and changes relating to Form 6, which is used for voter registration.
With Dipke, Das and Ranka in detention, the party named its organisation in-charge, Ajinkya Shinde, to lead the agitation.
The CJP condemned the detentions and alleged that the three leaders had been taken to an undisclosed location and denied access to lawyers and contact with others. It demanded their immediate release.
