High drama unfolded outside the ITC Grand Bharat in Manesar here on Friday evening with staff and local police denying entry to SOG team from Rajasthan.

The SOG team reached the hotel for investigations into charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered against some MLAs for allegedly trying to topple the Rajasthan government.

More than a dozen Rajasthan Congress MLAs supporting former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot are believed to be staying in the five-star hotel for almost a week. One of the MLAs, Bhanwar Lal Sharma, whose name figures in the FIR, is also believed to be part of the group.

Led by IPS Vikas Sharma, the five-member team, reached the hotel around 6.30 p.m., after most of the television crews and the local police, had left for the day. However, the hotel staff did not allow the team to enter and soon the local police also reached the spot. The standoff continued for more than an hour.

Eventually, around 8 p.m., the Rajasthan police personnel were allowed inside.

Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, in a series of tweets, said the attempts to stop the Rajasthan Police from entering inside the hotel had exposed the “BJP’s brazen conspiracy”. “Haryana Police blocking Rajasthan Police from investigating the “toppling game” is naked proof of this plot,” said Mr. Surjewala, in one of the tweets.

The Rajasthan SOG team left 45 minutes later; they were not accompanied by any person. They didn't speak to the press.