Abhijeet Dipke Loses Grandmother Hours After Delhi Airport Detention; Police Leave Decision on Last Rites to Him

Savitribai Dipke, the paternal grandmother of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, died on Saturday, October 10, 2026, hours after he was detained by Delhi Police at IGI Airport. She was 85. Her death was reported by PTI and other outlets.

According to reports, Savitribai Dipke had been unwell for the past few days. She died at 11:30 AM at the family's native village of Santuk Pimpri in Maharashtra's Hingoli district. Her last rites are scheduled for 10 AM on Sunday, PTI reported, citing sources.

Dipke, along with CJP colleagues Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, had been detained aboard their flight from Mumbai shortly after it landed in Delhi, as police moved to prevent the party's planned protest at Jantar Mantar. The protest demands the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Delhi Police informed Dipke about his grandmother's death after his detention, leaving it to him to decide whether to return home for the last rites or remain in detention amid the protest, according to a PTI-based report carried by NewsDrum. There was no immediate confirmation of his decision at the time of that report.

Sources told PTI that Dipke had last met his grandmother on August 15, when he launched his "School Thik Karo" campaign from Hingoli district, and had not been able to see her in the following 20 to 25 days. NCP (SP)'s Anish Gawande had earlier raised questions about Dipke's whereabouts after the detention.

The detention is part of a larger crackdown on the CJP's "Jantar Mantar 2.0" protest, which police refused to permit, citing late notice and earlier violations. Authorities deployed more than 20,000 personnel, restricted metro and train services, and detained other opposition leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee. The Election Commission has rejected the allegations over the SIR, saying it removes duplicate and ineligible voters.

This is a developing story based on reports from PTI, The Tribune, The Statesman, Onmanorama and NewsDrum as of October 10, 2026, and may be updated.