CNN-IBN video journalist Rajesh Bhardwaj was taken into preventive custody in Cairo on Thursday and his identity card and tapes burnt. Bhardwaj along with some other media personnel was reportedly taken into custody by the Egyptian Army but released after some time. Bhardwaj was shooting the anti-Hosni Mubarak protests at Tahrir Square in Cairo when the Army took him into custody.

However, Bhardwaj said after his release that those who took him into custody were not in army uniform.

"They asked me from where I was. When I replied that I was an Indian they took me near some Army tanks and asked for my identity card. My identity card was torn and burnt. My tapes were taken away and burnt them. They even took away my camera but returned it after removing the tapes from it. Those who burnt my identity card and tapes were not in army uniform," he said.

He also said that some Army personnel opened fire at anti-government protestors in Tahrir Square.

BBC reporter Rupert Wingfield-Hayes was arrested, handcuffed, blindfolded and interrogated. Wingfield-Hayes was arrested shortly after interviewing the advisor to Mubarak.

Passports of several journalists were also taken away by Egyptian authorities.

Indian Ambassador to Egypt, RS Swaminathan, told CNN-IBN that the Embassy had not been contacted so far by the Indian journalists present in Egypt. But he promised to get any Indian journalist under custody in Egypt released.

The Ministry of External Affairs has also decided to issue an advisory asking all Indian journalists to avoid troubled spots in Egypt. The Ministry also got in touch with the Egyptian government to get Bhardwaj released immediately after the news came out

Earlier, Army used tanks to separate supporters of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from the anti-government protestors. The Army stepped in after fresh clashes erupted in Cairo ahead of a Friday deadline for Mubarak to quit.

The violence started again just a few hours after Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq apologised for earlier violence and promised to hold an investigation into the deadly clashes that left at least six people dead and several others injured.

Supporters of President Mubarak targeted anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square reportedly from assault rifles.