Security was tightened across parts of the New Delhi area on Tuesday morning and the detained workers were taken to various police stations in five buses

It was a contest of protests on the streets of Delhi on Tuesday as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held demonstrations across the national capital – the former agitating against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest and the latter calling for his resignation – a day before the Delhi high court is scheduled to hear a plea in the matter.

Punjab education minister Harjot Bains, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Malviya Nagar legislator Somnath Bharti, and deputy speaker of the Delhi assembly Rakhi Birla were among those detained by Delhi Police on Tuesday morning at Patel Chowk Metro station.

AAP called for a march from Patel Chowk Metro station to the Prime Minister’s house (7, Lok Kalyan Marg) to protest Kejriwal’s arrest in connection with alleged irregularities and kickbacks related to Delhi’s now-scrapped excise policy for liquor. The police said Section 144 was in force in the entire New Delhi district and detained those who gathered.

“It is surprising that peaceful AAP protesters, including our female supporters, were detained from the station itself but there was no restriction on BJP’s protest in Delhi. This is not just a bias but murder of democracy in the country,” said Bharti.