Indian police have broken up a protest and detained around two dozen people opposing the arrests this week of five prominent rights activists for suspected links to Maoist rebels in various parts of the country.

Police forcibly put the protesters into their buses before driving them away on Wednesday in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states.

The protesters chanted slogans describing the arrests of five activists in Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi on Tuesday as undemocratic and a violation of fundamental rights.

Telugu-language poet Varavara Rao was among those arrested on Tuesday.

Police also have accused the five arrested activists of delivering speeches that triggered protests and violence between low-caste Dalits and right-wing groups near the western city of Pune in December