Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said he had been detained while trying to meet the family of a retired Army man who had committed suicide over the delay in implementing the One Rank One Pension Scheme. Kejriwal tweeted, "Formally detained by the police. No idea where they are taking me."

The purported police action triggered an immediate outcry from other members of the Aam Aadmi Party. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who had also been detained and then let off earlier in the day, said, "This is an emergency." Other members of the party criticised the action against an incumbent chief minister in his own state.

Earlier in the day, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was detained twice for trying to meet the family of the deceased soldier. He was first detained, along with Sisodia and another AAP legislator, for trying to meet the family of the deceased. He was detained again later in the day after meeting the family. Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia was also detained with Gandhi, reported ANI. They were later released.

The political leaders were detained for coming in the way of hospital work. A police officer said, "The Delhi Police will not allow any obstruction at a hospital. They were making speeches. Leaders should understand they can't do politics here." The family members of Subedar Ram Kishan Grewal were also detained, reported CNN News-18. "They were contacting political leaders and holding demonstrations here," said Delhi's Anti-Corruption Branch chief Mukesh Kumar Meena.

Both Gandhi and Sisodia blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the police action. "Naya Hindustan ban raha hai bhaiya… this is Modijis India... I was not allowed to visit Grewal's kin because of government's non-democratic mentality," said Gandhi. Sisodia said on Twitter, "A former soldier commits suicide due to actions of the central government and I get detained just for talking to his family. This is too much." Kejriwal tweeted, "Manish Sisodia detained? He had gone to meet family of deceased Ram Kishan ji. He is elected Dy CM. Whats wrong wid u Modiji? So insecure?"

In his suicide note, Grewal had said that he was killing himself for the country's soldiers. His son said he had called his family and informed them of his decision to take his life because "the government had failed to fulfil their demands" related to the OROP scheme.

The Defence Ministry had reinstated the OROP scheme in September 2015, more than 43 years after the formula for calculating pensions for those retiring from India's armed forces was terminated by the Indira Gandhi government. It formally notified the OROP scheme for more than 24 lakh ex-servicemen and six lakh war widows in the country on November 8, 2015. However, the veterans had said that the government's version had "seven serious shortcomings", which would nullify the definition of scheme. Ex-service personnel have conducted several major protests and hunger strikes demanding that their recommendations be included.