Shimla, Feb. 26 -- In a rare and dramatic confrontation between police forces of two states, nearly 20 Delhi cops who had come to arrest three Indian Youth Congress workers from Rohru, in connection with the 'shirtless' protest at the recently concluded AI summit in the national capital, were detained in Himachal. According to people in the know of matter, state authorities intercepted three vehicles of the Special Cell of Delhi Police in Shoghi (near Shimla) and Dharampur (in Solan district) for failing to follow mandatory inter-state arrest protocols, including the procurement of transit remands. Both the detained Delhi officers and the IYC workers were subsequently produced in a court in Shimla as the legal tug of war intensified. The high-voltage drama continued till late evening as the Shimla police's application, alleging procedural lapses by the Special Cell, was deferred until Thursday, following which the Delhi Police team resumed its journey to the national capital but was stopped again by HP cops at Shoghi. In a statement, issued late on Wednesday night, Shimla police said a case has been registered against the Delhi police personnel at the Chirgaon police station in Rohru and lawful proceedings are underway. "This morning, the Shimla police received information that around 15 to 20 persons, dressed in plain clothes, arrived in vehicles and forcibly took away three individuals/guests who were staying at a resort in Chirgaon. They also took along one of the guests' vehicles," said the statement. "The Himachal Police were neither informed nor taken into confidence before the arrests were carried out," said a senior HP police official, who did want to be named. "The Delhi team had also not obtained a transit remand from a local court prior to moving the detainees out of the state. It's a procedural requirement. When the special cell team was taking the arrested youths to Delhi, they were intercepted and later produced in a court in Shimla," he added. The "shirtless" at the AI Summit on February 20 had triggered a major security response, with police earlier invoking charges including rioting and promoting enmity under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. "Of the three vehicles, two were intercepted in Shogi while the third was intercepted near Dharampur," said the official. The three workers, who are not natives of Himachal, had allegedly travelled to Delhi earlier to join the protest and were later traced and apprehended. The BJP hit out at the Himachal police for 'detaining' Delhi cops. "It is extremely unfortunate that Himachal cops interfered in the functioning of Delhi Police in such a manner," said LoP Jai Ram Thakur....