Over 20 workers of the Aam Aadmi Party were detained on Saturday after they tried to hold a protest outside the BJP headquarters here against the arrest of party convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, officials said.

A group of AAP activists led by led by party leader Om Prakash Khajuria assembled near Trikuta Nagar as part of the nationwide protest against the arrest of Kejriwal and tried to move towards the BJP office but were stopped by police, they said.

The officials said over 20 workers were detained after they refused to disperse and tried to continue their march towards the BJP office.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy. On March 21, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case linked to the policy. He was granted bail by a trial court that was stayed by the Delhi High Court.

"We had planned to gherao the BJP office (Jammu) against the illegal arrest of our leader in response to the call for nationwide protest but police took us into custody," Khajuria said.

The protesters were carrying placards and shouting slogans against the BJP for allegedly misusing central agencies against opposition leaders.

"Kejriwal is being framed in a false case. The CBI was used when they (BJP) became apprehensive that he might be released by the Supreme Court," Khajuria said, alleging that the country is faced with a "situation worse than the Emergency" under the BJP rule.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.