“I have not signed any bond barring me or other party leaders from staging further protests demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar,” clarified Abhijeet Dipke, founder, Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), during a media interaction at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur, on Sunday evening. “We will hit the streets again. We are not afraid of any powers, howsoever powerful they might be, he added.” Dipke landed in the city from Delhi and later left for Santuk Pimpri village in Hingoli district to attend his grandmother’s last rites. “Put me in jail a hundred times, we are not afraid of you nor we will bow down to any pressure. My detention was illegal. I was not allowed to use my phone until 3 am to inform my parents about my arrest,” claimed Dipke. Dipke alleged that police had asked him for a relative’s contact number, but he could not recall any of his cousins’ numbers hence had asked for his phone.

 

He also demanded action against Delhi Police personnel over alleged manhandling women protesters. His remarks came shortly after Delhi Police released a video refuting allegations that Dipke was not informed about his grandmother’s death while in preventive custody on October 10. According to media reports, Delhi Police said the news was conveyed to him sensitively and that assistance was offered to facilitate his travel to his hometown for the funeral, but he declined the offer.

 

The video was released after Dipke’s mother accused Delhi Police of lying, alleging that her son was not informed of his grandmother’s demise on Saturday. Dipke was detained at Delhi airport on October 10 after arriving from Mumbai with fellow CJP leaders for a planned protest at Jantar Mantar, demanding resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.