Protests erupt after Ugandan pop star and presidential candidate Bobi Wine arrested

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Ugandan pop star and presidential candidate Bobi Wine has been arrested, sparking protests in Kampala.

The opposition politician claimed police had violently broken into his car and taken him custody, while he was out campaigning in eastern Uganda.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, said he had been arrested in Luuka in a tweet on Wednesday.

Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wine’s supporters have taken to the streets in Uganda’s capital, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets to break up the protesters.

Roads were blocked and tyres burned in Kampala during demonstrations on Wednesday.

It is not yet clear why Wine - a popular singer who is bidding to become Uganda’s next president - was arrested.

"We have not been allowed to see him and we don't know what is happening," Joel Ssenyonyi, the spokesman for Wine's political party, the National Unity Platform, said. 

Just weeks ago, Wine was dragged from his car by police and arrested shortly after being certified as a candidate in the presidential election. 

The 38-year-old’s offices were reportedly raided by police around a fortnight earlier. 

The pop star has been arrested many times in recent years, and is now running to unseat Uganda’s current president, Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for more than three decades. 

In the tweet over his arrest in Luuka, Wine said: “The price of freedom is high but we shall certainly overcome.”

Additional reporting by agencies