Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Sunday accused Delhi Police of denying him access to his phone and lawyers while he was detained, contradicting the police account that he was informed about his grandmother’s death and offered assistance to travel home for her last rites.
The exchange followed a press conference by Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police Neha Yadav, who said officers had promptly informed Dipke about his grandmother’s demise and offered help with flight arrangements, phone calls and other assistance. According to Yadav, officers repeatedly asked whether he wanted to speak to his parents, but he declined.
Responding on X, Dipke said he had asked to use his phone to retrieve his cousin’s number and had also requested a call with his lawyers, but both requests were denied.
“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,” he wrote.
Dipke also questioned why police approached him at 3.30 am to ask him to inform his father that he could face a lengthy jail term, despite the family having just lost his grandmother.
“Where did all that humanity go at 3:30 AM?” he asked in another post, alleging that officers demanded his signature on arrest papers despite knowing about his bereavement. He said he refused to sign until he was allowed to speak to his lawyers.
Yadav, meanwhile, defended the decision to deny permission for the CJP’s proposed sit-in protest at Janpath, citing alleged past non-compliance with police directions, previous incidents of stone-pelting and arson, and prevailing security concerns.
She said Dipke and two associates were detained on October 10 in connection with the proposed demonstration, for which permission had not been granted.
