Hours after Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), was detained at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, his grandmother died in Maharashtra's Hingoli district on Saturday, NDTV reported.
Dipke had travelled from Mumbai to the national capital to join a planned CJP protest at Jantar Mantar seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
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Dipke's grandmother, Savitribai Dipke, was 85 and had been unwell for some time, with age-related complications. She died in Santuk Pimpri village in Hingoli district.
Dipke was in Delhi when he learnt of her death. His detention raised questions over whether he would be allowed to travel to Maharashtra to attend her last rites. Details about his release and possible travel arrangements were not immediately available.
Meanwhile, Dipke's parents, Anita and Bhagwan Dipke, were in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where police personnel had been deployed outside their residence. They were expected to leave for Hingoli following the news of the death.
Earlier on Saturday, Dipke and fellow CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained at Delhi airport as they arrived for the planned demonstration, according to the report.
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Delhi Police personnel reportedly entered the aircraft carrying Dipke after it landed at IGI Airport and detained the party members inside the flight. In a video shared on his social media account, Dipke was heard telling the police, “I have come here to be arrested; arrest me.”
The CJP later announced the detentions in a post on its social media account, naming Dipke, Das and Ranka. The proposed demonstration was aimed at demanding Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise, which has drawn criticism from opposition parties.
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