Battlelines are drawn after the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate in the alleged liquor policy scam, with his Aam Aadmi Party calling nationwide protests outside the BJP offices.

The Supreme Court is likely to take up today Mr Kejriwal’s petition against his arrest, a day after it denied an urgent hearing in his plea against the raids. The probe agency, meanwhile, will produce the Chief Minister in an ED court.

Mr Kejriwal’s arrest, just weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, has unleashed waves of protest by thousands of party workers and condemnation from the Opposition camp. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will also visit Mr Kejriwal’s family today, said sources,

Read | Explained: Why Enforcement Directorate Arrested Arvind Kejriwal

The AAP has said that Mr Kejriwal will continue to discharge his chief ministerial duties from jail – a prospect that may create a constitutional crisis, legal experts have said.

The Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating a money laundering angle in the alleged liquor policy scam, had called Mr Kejriwal a “conspirator”.

The probe team turned up at Mr Kejriwal’s home last evening with a search warrant after he skipped nine summonses by the central agency. Later in the day, the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from arrest.

Read | AAP Says Arvind Kejriwal Will Remain Chief Minister. How Feasible Is That?

The agency arrested him around 9 pm after a search and questioning session and took him to the ED office. His and his wife’s phones were also confiscated and data was transferred from two tablets and a laptop at his home. Mr Kejriwal spent the night in an ED lock-up after a medical check-up from the RML hospital, sources said.

Delhi minister Atishi has called the arrest a “conspiracy by the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi” and said Mr Kejriwal will remain the Delhi Chief Minister. “We have said from the beginning that he will run the government from jail if need be. He has not been convicted… No law stops him from doing so,” she said in Hindi.

At a post-midnight press conference, AAP called a nationwide protest against the BJP on Friday. In Delhi, the protest will take place outside the BJP headquarters.

Mr Kejriwal’s arrest comes less than a week after BRS leader K Kavitha was taken into custody in the liquor policy case. Mr Kejriwal was named as a conspirator for the first time after Ms Kavitha’s arrest.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on Thursday night after a 12-member team of the Enforcement Directorate reached his official residence with a search warrant in the Delhi liquor policy case.

This is the first time a sitting chief minister has been arrested in the history of Independent India. Two leaders of Mr Kejriwal’s party AAP — Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh — have already been arrested by the probe agency in the case. The chief minister was summoned nine times by the probe agency but repeatedly refused to appear before it, calling the summons illegal.

After his arrest, the AAP said Mr Kejriwal will continue as the chief minister and discharge his duties from jail. “Arvind Kejriwal is and will remain the Chief Minister of Delhi… there are no two ways about it,” said AAP leader Atishi. The party has announced nationwide protests against the arrest.

Here are the LIVE updates on Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest:

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