Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday was asked to appear before it again on Tuesday in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper, officials said.

They said the questioning on Monday continued well past 9 pm and would end soon.

Gandhi, who entered the headquarters of the federal agency in central Delhi around 11.10 am, was put to questioning about 20 minutes later after he finished some brief legal proceedings and marked his attendance.

He was allowed by the ED to leave for lunch around 2:10 pm and he returned for the questioning around 3:30 pm, officials said.

The probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian that owns the National Herald newspaper.

The National Herald is published by the Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by Young Indian Pvt Limited.

Arrests over Rahul agitation

The Delhi Police on Monday detained 459 Congress workers and senior leaders, including Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, K C Venugopal and Mallikarjun Kharge, for not following police directions for the maintenance of law and order in the national capital, officials said.

They also said that allegations of manhandling, injuries to protesting Congress leaders during police action will be diligently looked into. Hundreds of Congress workers in Delhi took to the streets and several senior leaders were detained amid a massive show of strength by the party which had called for the Satyagraha march against the ED's questioning of Rahul Gandhi in a money-laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper.

The opposition party alleged that some of its leaders were manhandled by the police and lashed out at the government for "not allowing" peaceful protests. Despite being denied permission, Congress gathered for the protest in different parts of Delhi on Monday.

They were detained from the Akbar Road, where the Congress headquarter is situated, Q Point APJ Kalam Road and Man Sing Road and taken to the Mandir Marg, Tughlak Road and Fatehpur Beri police stations respectively.

However, police said that entry of 100 senior leaders and staff of the All India Congress Committee was allowed into the party headquarters through the Akbar Road and Maulana Azad Road roundabout whose list was to be provided in advance.

The Delhi Police said 15 Lok Sabha MPs, including Leader of Opposition Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, 11 Rajya Sabha members, including K C Venugopal and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, five MLAs of different states and party functionaries were among the 459 people detained in the New Delhi district for not following lawful directions of police for maintenance of law and order.

All woman workers and functionaries of the Congress detained by the police have been released and suitable legal action is being taken against those who violated orders promulgated under CrPC section 144, a senior police official said.