Abhijeet Dipke attacks Modi after release from Delhi detention

Release after airport detention

Cockroach Janta Party convenor Abhijeet Dipke and two senior party colleagues were released from preventive detention on Sunday, nearly 24 hours after Delhi Police removed them from an aircraft at Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Dipke, along with CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, was produced before an executive magistrate on Sunday morning following their detention on Saturday. The magistrate ordered their release on the condition that they sign an undertaking not to breach the peace for one year.

Police detained the trio on Saturday morning aboard Air India flight AI 2428 shortly after it landed in New Delhi at 10:18 am. The plane was directed to a remote parking bay on instructions from airport operations. The arrests were part of a broader security operation across the capital aimed at preventing a planned CJP demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral roll revisions.

Attack on Prime Minister

Within an hour of his release, Dipke posted a series of statements on social media criticizing the administration and Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly.

Writing on X, Dipke stated that Modi as Prime Minister is "an embarrassment to India" and added that the country had never seen a bigger "coward and bully".

Speaking outside the residence of senior advocate Kapil Sibal later on Sunday, Dipke questioned the scale of the police response across the capital, where authorities deployed heavy security and barricaded access to Jantar Mantar. "The entire Delhi was brought to a standstill to protect Gyanesh Kumar," Dipke said. "What is it about Gyanesh Kumar that you inconvenienced millions of people yesterday to protect him?"

Dispute over grandmother's funeral

Dipke's release followed a public disagreement between his family and Delhi Police over his ability to attend his grandmother's funeral.

Savitribai Shankarrao Dipke, 85, died on Saturday in Maharashtra's Hingoli district after a prolonged illness. Her last rites were conducted on Sunday morning. Dipke's uncle, Vilas Dipke, said he had pleaded with Delhi Police at least 10 times to allow his nephew to leave so he could travel home for the funeral, but said the eventual release came too late for him to attend the service.

Delhi Police rejected the family's account, stating that officers informed Dipke of his grandmother's death promptly and with sensitivity, including details of the funeral schedule. Police said they offered Dipke assistance to arrange travel to Maharashtra on humanitarian grounds, but claimed he declined the offer.

Dipke confirmed he was travelling home to Maharashtra to support his family and collect his grandmother's ashes, while CJP co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka remained in Delhi to manage party operations and direct ongoing protest plans.