Delhi Police Asks Shaheen Bagh Protesters To End Demonstration As Covid-19 Scare Grips Capital City

Protesters at Shaheen Bagh defied government's order and said that they would continue their protests adding that their organising committee is in touch with medical and legal experts for assistance.

Delhi Police held a meeting with protesters and urged them to end their demonstration. (File Photo/ AFP)

New Delhi: On the backdrop of novel Coronavirus outbreak in the country, the Delhi Police on Tuesday appealed to the agitators of Shaheen Bagh to end their sit-in protests against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). According to reports, Delhi Police held a meeting with protesters and urged them to end their demonstration. Police said that they held a meeting on Monday also regarding the same issue but nothing came out of it. "We have conducted a meeting on Tuesday to the protesters. We urged them to end their protest after the outbreak of Coronavirus. We held a meeting on Monday also but nothing positive has come out of the meetings," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) (DCP) R P Meena told news agency PTI. WATCH REPORT | Coronavirus Outbreak: Shaheen Bagh Protesters Unaffected By Covid-19 Scare The protesters, however, claimed that police only spoke to some 10 to 15 people and did not come to the place where they were sitting. "Today, senior police officers came here and talked to some 10 to 15 people near the barricading. We asked them to come to the pandal and announce their appeal to the protesters through the stage, but they did not come," one of the protesters claimed. Meanwhile, Delhi government has banned public gathering of more than 50 persons - including the ongoing protests till March 31 in order to slow the spread of the novel Coronavirus pandemic.  The total number of COVID-19 cases in India rose to 137 on Tuesday with three deaths. ALSO WATCH | Coronavirus Pandemic: Delhi Police Ban Rallies, Protests Protesters at Shaheen Bagh defied government's order and said that they would continue their protests adding that their organising committee is in touch with medical and legal experts for assistance. Shaheen Bagh protest, which has been going on since December 15 and is led by women, has become the epicentre of protests against the amended citizenship law and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that any gathering -- religious, family, social, political or cultural -- of over 50 people would not be allowed in Delhi till March 31 as a precautionary measure to contain the deadly COVID-19. He indicated that the ban on gatherings will also cover protests at Shaheen Bagh and outside the Jamia Millia Islamia.