Delhi Police say detained Abhijeet Dipke declined help to reach his grandmother’s funeral; family disputes account

In a statement and in a recorded video of an interaction with the CJP leader, Delhi Police said it conveyed the information to Dipke with due sensitivity and that he was told the scheduled funeral time.

The police also offered all possible assistance to facilitate his travel to his hometown on humanitarian grounds, but he declined the offer, according to the police account.

In the video it is seen that he is offered any kind of transport, including flight, to reach his family, while Dipke declined it and asked them to inform his family to go ahead with funeral. However he demanded his phone to reach out to his cousin in the village while the police insisted on communication only through them. 

"The information regarding the demise of Abhijeet’s grandmother was promptly conveyed to him with due sensitivity.He was also informed of the scheduled funeral time and offered all possible assistance to facilitate his travel to his hometown on humanitarian grounds; however, he denied to avail the same," Delhi Police said in a social media post.

Dipke, along with CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was detained after their flight landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday, ahead of the outfit’s planned protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar.

Dipke’s family disputed the police version, alleging that repeated appeals for his release were unsuccessful and that he missed the funeral, held on Sunday morning in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district.

"We have not been able to contact him... Delhi Police is lying. If he got the news (his grandmother’s demise), he would have come immediately... we have put the last rites on hold for him...," Dipke’s mother, Anita Dipke, told ANI.

Dipke’s paternal grandmother, Savitribai Shankarrao Dipke, 85, died on Saturday in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district following a prolonged illness, The New Indian Express reported.

In a post on X Abijeet Dipke said, "Heading back to my village to be with my family during this moment of grief."

"Saurav and Ashu will address a press conference shortly in Delhi. The CJP will neither back down nor be intimidated. October 10 will go down as the beginning of the end of this dictatorship," he further said. 

The three leaders were produced before an executive magistrate on Sunday and subsequently released, according to CJP’s legal team.