Ex-bureaucrat Ashish Joshi questioned for 9hrs over social media posts
What's the story
Former bureaucrat Ashish Joshi was detained and questioned by the Delhi Police's Special Cell on Wednesday in connection with social media posts allegedly related to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Indian Express reported. The questioning lasted for nearly nine hours at the Counter Intelligence unit office in New Friends Colony. Joshi was picked up from Nehru Park during his morning walk and dropped back home in RK Puram later that evening.
Case connection
Joshi's links emerged during investigation
According to a police officer, Joshi was questioned in connection with a case registered two days ago.
"Joshi had recently posted on social media about the ECI. After registering an FIR, we decided to question him to verify his claims. At the office, he was questioned and confronted with the messages he had posted on social media. After verifying the claims, we...let him go," a source in the police told the newspaper.
Details of this FIR remain undisclosed.
Career background
Joshi told it would take very little time
The matter came to light on Wednesday morning, when Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said in a post on X that Joshi was picked up by two police officers while out for his morning walk.
In a post on X, Joshi said he was taken for interrogation "under the assurance that it would take very little time."
However, he said his repeated requests to inform his family about his whereabouts were ignored, with officers stating they were "following instructions."
Family notification
Joshi criticized Delhi Police
"I was only permitted to make a call at 6:38PM, leaving my family & friends in total panic," Joshi, adding that "Informing an individual's family during interrogation or detention is a legal mandate, not an optional courtesy."
Joshi retired on March 31, 2026, as an additional secretary-ranked officer in the Government of India.
He was earlier suspended by the Department of Telecommunications in 2019 after a social media post calling for legal action against Kapil Mishra over a controversial video.