Former premier Benazir Bhutto [Images] was on Friday "put under detention for unspecified period" after she tried to step out of her house to lead her Pakistan People's Party rally in Rawalpindi against the emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf [Images].

Defying the government's order that she should not leave her house "for her own security", Bhutto left the Zardari house in the heart of Islamabad at around 1. 40 pm, but was stopped by policemen who had surrounded the house since early Friday morning.

A magistrate served the detention order on her and she was taken back to the house.

Bhutto has been "put under detention for unspecified period," officials were quoted as saying by Dawn news channel.

Earlier, armoured cars and policemen in black riot gear cordoned off the Zardari House, the former prime minister's residence in Islamabad, and barricaded all streets leading to it with concrete blocks.