Former senior bureaucrat Ashish Joshi was questioned by the Delhi Police Special Cell for nearly nine hours on Wednesday after being picked up while he was on a morning walk near his residence. The incident came to light when Joshi posted about it on X in the evening, writing: “Just got back home. Delhi Special Cell dropped me home. Details later.”
Allegations of Procedural Lapses
In a subsequent post addressed to Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar in the early hours of Thursday, Joshi raised concerns about police conduct during his detention. “Yesterday, I was taken for interrogation after my morning walk under the assurance that it would take very little time. However, as the hours stretched on, my repeated requests to inform my wife of my whereabouts, the concerned Police Officials/Officer simply stated they were ‘following instructions,'” he said.
He claimed he was only permitted to make a call to his panicked family at 6:38 PM, roughly nine hours after being taken into custody. Joshi requested that the Commissioner issue clear instructions to all units directing officers to strictly uphold the legal duty of immediately informing the family of any person taken for interrogation. His posts drew attention to what he described as unnecessary distress suffered by his family during the prolonged questioning.
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Background and Career
Joshi is a former controller of communications in the Department of Telecommunications. His LinkedIn profile indicates he holds a Master of Management Studies in Public Policy from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. A 1992-batch Indian Post and Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service officer, he was posted as DoT Controller of Communications in Uttarakhand during his career.
According to Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit, the former bureaucrat retired as Additional Secretary to the Government of India. His positions in the Department of Telecommunications placed him at the center of policy decisions affecting India’s telecommunications sector.
The questioning by the Special Cell’s Counter Intelligence unit took place at its office in New Friends Colony, Delhi, according to police sources.
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Police Response
While the Delhi Police has not made any public statements about the developments, sources said the former bureaucrat was questioned in connection with an old case. They stated that Joshi was released in the evening after his statement was recorded and that no arrest was made in the matter.
The police sources directly contradicted his claim, asserting that the former bureaucrat and his family were duly informed about the case when he was brought in for questioning. The discrepancy between his account and the police version remains unresolved pending further clarification from either party.
The Special Cell, which handles sensitive cases involving national security and other high-priority matters, has not released any official statement regarding the incident or the nature of the questioning.
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