Congress leader P Chidambaram was arrested by CBI officials from his house after he made a dramatic appearance at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

The former finance minister, accused in the INX media case, had been missing for 24 hours.

He is likely to be produced before the CBI Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday.

While addressing the media he said that he has been wrongly accused of hiding from law. "I was aghast that I was accused of hiding from the law. On the contrary, I was seeking the protection of the law. I was accused of running away from justice. On the contrary, I was engaged in the pursuit of justice," Chidambaram told reporters.

After his presser, a team of CBI officials rushed to his house and scaled the walls to enter the building. The Enforcement Directorate and Delhi police too reached his house to cordon off the area.

Delhi Police personnel blocked access to Chidambaram's house, even as milling media persons tried to get a better view of the happenings inside. Later, a CBI team arrived in a car to take the senior Congress leader into custody.

Once inside, the CBI team completed the formalities of Chidambaram's arrest in the presence of his team of lawyers.

Chidambaram was driven to the CBI headquarters in a white car, with him seated in the middle and CBI personnel on either side.

Sources said CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla himself was present at the headquarters along with top officers for the questioning of former minister.

In the morning, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana refused to grant interim relief from arrest to Chidambaram and referred his plea for an anticipatory bail in the INX media case to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi for urgent hearing.

In the INX Media case, Chidambaram is accused of facilitating foreign investment in a media company when he was the Finance Minister at the instance of his son Karti Chidambaram, who is accused of receiving kickbacks. Both the father and son have denied any wrongdoing.