Videos of the exchange, which circulated widely on social media on Friday, show Dipke questioning the officer’s authority to decide who could enter his residence in the Waluj MIDC area. The 30-year-old activist eventually asked the sub-inspector to leave and sought his removal from the security detail deployed outside the house.
The confrontation involved a police officer identified by Dipke only as Suresh, who was dressed in civilian clothes. Dipke accused him of asking visitors to leave and attempting to monitor access to the residence. He told the officer that police personnel could not determine whom he was permitted to meet inside his own home.
“What is the problem in allowing people to come into my home when I am asking them to come in?” Dipke is heard saying in the footage. He also questioned why the officer was “behaving like the Delhi Police”, an apparent reference to his previous confrontations with police during protests in New Delhi.
Dipke then told the PSI to leave the premises, saying he did not want the officer inside his home. The exchange became sharper as Dipke accused police personnel of causing difficulties for him and his visitors despite there having been no reported security problem at the residence.
A second video shows Dipke speaking by telephone to a senior police officer and formally objecting to the PSI’s conduct. He complained that the officer was being rude to people arriving at the house, turning visitors away and interfering with meetings.
Dipke asked that the officer be removed from his security team and questioned whether the conduct was deliberate. Police authorities had not publicly responded to the allegations by Saturday morning. Deputy Commissioner of Police Pankaj Atulkar, whose jurisdiction covers the Waluj MIDC area, was unavailable for comment when attempts were made to obtain a response.
Security personnel have been stationed at Dipke’s residence for several weeks. The deployment began after he reported receiving threats and as growing numbers of supporters started gathering outside the home following the rapid expansion of the CJP movement.
Police had previously described the arrangement as preventive, aimed at maintaining security, controlling crowds and avoiding congestion around the residence. The deployment was strengthened ahead of Dipke’s return to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar after demonstrations at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
Dipke has presented a different concern, arguing that a security arrangement intended to protect him should not become a mechanism for regulating access to his home. The videos have therefore drawn attention beyond the personal argument, raising questions about how protective police deployments should operate when large numbers of supporters regularly approach the residence of a political activist.
The CJP leader also made a separate allegation involving personnel from Maharashtra’s Criminal Investigation Department. He claimed plainclothes CID personnel had been seen near his residence and were passing information through a WhatsApp group.
Dipke said a reporter had alerted him to the presence of the personnel and claimed that a messaging group visible on one of their phones carried the name “Hit Spray”. He alleged that information collected near his home was being posted to the group. No independent evidence establishing the purpose of any such group has emerged, and police had not confirmed the allegation.
The episode follows months of increasing public attention around Dipke and the CJP, an online movement that developed into a broader youth-driven campaign focused on examination irregularities, recruitment problems, unemployment and education reform.
Dipke has led demonstrations demanding greater accountability over examination controversies and has become closely associated with student protests. His activism has also produced repeated encounters with police, particularly during demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.
(IPA Service)
