Delhi Police have offered Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke the option of returning to Maharashtra to attend his grandmother's last rites after he was detained in the national capital ahead of a planned protest over alleged irregularities in the electoral rolls.
Dipke's paternal grandmother died on Saturday morning in Santuk Pimpri village in Maharashtra's Hingoli district.The police informed Dipke of her death and said he could fly back to attend the funeral.
Dipke was among the three CJP leaders detained after arriving in Delhi for a planned protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. CJP has been opposing the revision exercise, alleging that it could result in the deletion of eligible voters' names from electoral rolls.
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In a statement, Delhi Police said the information about his grandmother's death was conveyed to Dipke promptly, along with the available details of the funeral.
Police said they had informed Dipke of his grandmother's death and offered to arrange his return to Maharashtra to attend her last rites. However, Dipke will have to decide whether to return to Maharashtra for the last rites or remain in Delhi while in detention, they added.
His grandmother had reportedly been suffering from age-related health issues before she passed away today in the afternoon.
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Dipke was among the CJP leaders detained after police personnel boarded an Air India flight upon its arrival in Delhi from Mumbai. Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were also detained.
The detention has drawn criticism from Dipke's family. His mother, Anita Dipke, told NDTV that the police action was “wrong”, while his father, Bhagwanrao Dipke, expressed full support for his son and the party's decision to organise the protest.
The family, which was in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, was expected to travel to Hingoli to attend the funeral.
Meanwhile, around 1,500 CJP supporters have been detained in Delhi since Friday night as police stepped up measures to prevent demonstrators from reaching Jantar Mantar ahead of the planned protest.
The demonstration was intended to press for Kumar's resignation over alleged electoral irregularities linked to the SIR exercise.
With its senior leaders in detention, the CJP has entrusted Ajinkya Shinde with leading the protest until the detained leadership is released.
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