Offered To Help Abhijeet Dipke Return For Grandmother's Last Rites: Cops

The paternal grandmother of Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke died in a village in Maharashtra this morning, on a day when her grandson was detained in Delhi ahead of a mega protest over the alleged electoral illegalities.

The police said they have informed the 31-year-old CJP leader about his family tragedy and offered to fly him back to Maharashtra so that he can take part in her last rites.

"During the day, unfortunate information was received regarding the death of the grandmother of Abhijeet Dipke. The information was immediately shared with him with due sensitivity, and the known time of the funeral was intimated to him," Delhi Police said.

READ | CJP Founder Abhijeet Dipke's Grandmother Dies In Maharashtra

The police have also offered possible facilitation for his journey to his hometown on humanitarian grounds. Now, it's up to him to decide if he wants to stay back and continue the protest under detention or fly to his hometown for the last rites of her grandmother, sources added.

Dipke's grandmother had been unwell due to age-related illnesses and breathed her last in Santuk Pimpri village in the Hingoli district this morning. By then, her grandson had boarded a flight from Mumbai to Delhi with other CJP leaders to attend the protest at Jantar Mantar.

Upon his arrival in Delhi, police personnel stormed the Air India flight and detained CJP leaders Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das.

Dipke's parents have questioned his detention from the aircraft, and backed the CJP's stand for calling the protest. Speaking to NDTV, his mother Anita Dipke described the police action as "wrong", while his father Bhagwanrao Dipke extended his full support to his son.

READ | "I've Come To Get Arrested": Moment Abhijeet Dipke Was Detained From Plane

Currently in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, they are expected to leave for Hingoli to attend the last rites of Dipke's grandmother.

Over a thousand of the CJP's supporters have also been detained in Delhi since last night amid police efforts to keep Jantar Mantar out of reach ahead of the protest demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls.

The CJP, meanwhile, has assigned the responsibility of leading the protest to its leader, Ajinkya Shinde, until its top leaders are freed.