Petitioner in Shaheen Bagh matter welcomes clearance of protest site by Delhi Police

Advocate Amit Sahni, who filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking clearance of the anti-CAA protest site in Shaheen Bagh, welcomed Delhi Police's move to clear the site on Tuesday and said that it has come as a great relief.

"It is a great relief for lakhs of commuters from Noida, Faridabad and Delhi. The intervention by the authorities came quite late, and perhaps it was one of the reasons for Delhi riots," said Sahni.

"Protesters were not moving from their place despite the directions of the authorities so as to prevent the spread of COVID-19. No one should be permitted to block public roads which cause inconvenience to the public," he said.

"I put my sincere efforts for this public cause. I apologise the issue could not be redressed at the appropriate time due to reasons beyond my control," he added.

Amid the COVID-19 lockdown, Delhi Police on Tuesday cleared the Shaheen Bagh protest site where a large number of people were agitating against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). A few protesters were also detained for "unlawful assembly" during the lockdown.

"People at the protest site in Shaheen Bagh were requested today to clear the site as lockdown has been imposed. But after they refused, the action was taken against violators as the assembly was unlawful. Protest site has been cleared. Some protestors have been detained," said RP Meena, DCP South-East district.

On Monday, the number of protestors who had been on a sit-in protest against the CAA had reduced significantly.

Speaking to ANI, Maryam, a protester said, "We respect and obey the decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It has been urged that a minimum number of people should gather at one place so people are coming here in shifts, in groups of five. We are ready to combat the coronavirus. We are following what has been told like wearing gloves, masks and using sanitisers."

Many protesters at the site were seen in masks and maintaining distance to mitigate the chances of spreading the virus.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced a lockdown in the national capital territory of Delhi from 6 am on Monday to midnight on March 31.