New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke Sunday hit back at the Delhi Police over a video it released showing him declining assistance after being informed of his grandmother’s death while in detention. Dipke alleged that the police had denied him access to his phone, even for “just a couple of minutes”, to contact his cousin, who was living with his grandmother.
The Delhi Police video was released hours after CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka accused the police of being “inhuman” in the way they informed Dipke of his grandmother’s death. “They were standing with a mic and camera when they told Dipke,” Ranka said at a press conference at the Press Club of India. He added that Dipke had asked to speak to his parents but was not allowed to do so.
Delhi Police, however, maintained that they had offered Dipke all possible assistance.
I had requested to let me speak to my cousin who lives with my grandmother. Asked for my phone just for a couple of minutes so I could at least take out the number of my cousin.
Why Delhi Police didn’t let me use my phone? I had also asked for a call with lawyer which was again… https://t.co/U8Xei5Op19
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) October 11, 2026
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Perception Management & Media Cell) Neha Yadav said on Sunday that officers had approached Dipke as soon as they received information about his grandmother’s death, and offered help with flights and phone calls. They also repeatedly asked whether he wanted to speak to his parents, but he declined, she said.
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‘Deleted parts from video’
Dipke disputed the police’s account, alleging that he had been denied access to his phone throughout the night he was detained. He said the police refused to let him call his cousin, and also denied his request to speak to his lawyer.
“Why Delhi Police didn’t let me use my phone? I had also asked for a call with lawyer which was again denied (sic),” he wrote on X.
He also alleged that the video released by the police does not show him asking for his phone. “Why did you delete the part where I was asking for my phone so I could retrieve my cousin’s number? And where I was asking to let me speak to my lawyers?”
Why did you delete the part where I was asking for my phone so I could retrieve my cousin’s number? And where I was asking to let me speak to my lawyers?
The same Delhi Police which is now taking the moral high ground for informing me about my grandmother’s demise and offering… https://t.co/ziVgkvNbAe
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) October 11, 2026
Dipke also said that at 3.30 am, the police asked him to call his father and tell him that he would be going to jail for a long time the following day.
“The same father who has just lost his mother. How much more trauma did you want to put my family through after we already lost my grandmother? What was the purpose of trying to call my parents at 3.30 in the morning? You wanted to torment them?” he asked.
He added that the authorities had approached him at 3.30 am “with arrest papers, demanding that I sign them”.
Earlier in the day, after he was released by police, Dipke said he would return to his village to be with his family.
Dipke and two other CJP leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were released on Sunday, the party’s head of legal affairs, Ratna Singh, said on X. The trio was produced before a special executive magistrate in Delhi Cantt, and their release came with conditions. They cannot engage in any activity that breaches peace and tranquillity for the next year, Singh said.
Delhi Police had taken the three into custody on Saturday from inside an aircraft, shortly after they landed in Delhi from Mumbai. They were in the capital to take part in their planned ‘Jantar Mantar 2.0’ agitation.
Supporters turned out across the national capital Saturday in response to the CJP’s call. However, restrictions and detentions by the authorities prevented the mobilisation seen during the CJP’s July protest against alleged leaks in the NEET-UG examination.
At the press conference, DCP Yadav said the three were detained because permission for the protest at Jantar Mantar had not been granted. She added that permission was denied due to their “failure to follow prescribed procedures, a history of non-compliance with laws and guidelines, and the prevailing security and law-and-order situation”.
Yadav said the CJP’s past conduct “showed a failure to adhere to previously given undertakings and local directives”.
“When permission was granted previously, they did not abide by the law; the crowd they mobilised engaged in heavy stone-pelting, arson, and violence, causing significant damage to public property,” she said.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)
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