LUCKNOW, July 22 -- As the protests in Delhi intensified over NEET paper leak on Tuesday, with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav detained by police, the Uttar Pradesh units of the two parties launched impromptu protests in Lucknow and several other cities across the state by evening.

The developments also prompted heightened security at the Vidhan Bhawan, Raj Bhavan and the chief minister's residence in Lucknow.

Delhi Police on Tuesday forcibly removed Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as well as Akhilesh Yadav from the protest site outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence.

Soon after news of the detentions in Delhi reached the state, senior SP leaders and workers ga...