Protesters against the citizenship law at Shaheen Bagh were vacated by the Delhi Police amid coronavirus outbreak on Tuesday morning, officials said.

The women agitators have been on a sit-in at Shaheen Bagh for over three months, protesting the newly amended Citizenship Act .

Deputy commissioner of police (southeast) R. P. Meena said people at the protest venue in Shaheen Bagh were requested to vacate the site as lockdown has been imposed due to coronavirus outbreak.

However, when they refused action was taken and they were vacated, the official said.

On Saturday, Students of Jamia Millia Islamia had announced that they were temporarily suspending their sit-in protest outside the university’s gate number 7 in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

“With a heavy heart but with great hope in our hearts, we temporarily suspend the ongoing 24hrs sit-in protest at Gate no. 7, JMI,” a statement from Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) said.

The protesters at Shaheen Bagh had refused to call of their strike after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to remain indoors under a self-imposed curfew.

Following Delhi government's announcement on March 16 that banned gathering of more than 50 people, the agitators had reduced their size to 20 people.The protesters had, however, said that they were taking all the necessary preventive measure the contain the spread of the virus.

“On Sunday, we will sit under small tents (at the protest side). Only two women will sit under each tent and maintain a distance of more than a metre between them,” a protester who did not wish to be named said.

Another protester, Rizvana, said the women had been taking every precaution and they were covered in burqa all the time.

“Washing hands regularly is part of our lifestyle. We offer prayers five times a day and we wash our hands every time,” she said.

Ritu Kushik, another protester, said women aged above 70 years and children aged below 10 years were not being allowed at the protest site.

Shaheen Bagh has been one of the leading protests in the nation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, and has inspired several protests within the country. In Delhi, at least 10 sit-ins are being held at Hauz Rani, Inderlok, Shahi Idgah and many other areas in Old Delhi. In violence-hit north east Delhi where protests were being held in seven localities, only one sit-in is still on at Seelampur.