Hardik Patel spent 9 months in jail for sedition after his agitation for Patel quotas turned violent.
Hardik Patel claimed in tweets today that he had been arrested as he arrived in Jaipur, where he wanted to meet Arvind Kejriwal.
"Jaipur Police cited threats to my life as the reason," the 22-year-old tweeted, accusing Rajasthan's BJP government of ordering his arrest the moment he landed in Jaipur. Mr Patel, who has based himself in Udaipur after a court in Gujarat banished him for six months, was allegedly told that court permission for him travel to Hardwar for 15 days was over.
After a few hours in the VIP lounge, Mr Patel was sent with a police escort to Ajmer, from where he would be escorted to Udaipur.
Alleging attempts to infringe on his rights, Mr Patel tweeted that a police officer cited "orders from above".
Mr Kejriwal called the arrest "bizarre". "Arrested? Bizarre. Vasundhara (Raje) government should release him immediately," the Delhi Chief Minister tweeted.
Mr Patel spent nine months in jail for sedition after his agitation for quotas for the powerful Patel or Patidar community turned violent. He was released in July last year on the condition that he would leave Gujarat for six months.
A court had allowed Mr Patel to visit Hardwar for 15 days. On his way back, he wanted to meet Mr Kejriwal, who is in Jaipur to address a rally against the notes ban. He could not get further than the airport.
There was speculation that the police are worried Mr Patel may want to meet leaders of the Gujjar community, which is also campaigning for quota in Rajasthan.
Police sources told NDTV Mr Patel was neither arrested nor detained.
"The court order is very clear. Hardik Patel can visit any city provided he has permission from the court," said an officer, adding that they were only facilitating Mr Patel's return to Udaipur.