Exodus has stopped, say police,railway officials

With confidence-building measures and scaled up security in place, exodus of Northeasterners from here for their home-states fearing backlash over Assam violence has stopped, police and railway officials said today.

The country's IT capital came under a thick security cover with over 17,000 police personnel, bolstered by Rapid Action Force and Karnataka State Reserve Police, deployed to instil a sense of confidence in the panic-stricken Northeasterners.

Upto 30,000 NE people had fled the city since late last week driven by fears of attacks sparked by rumours.

"The situation is absolutely peaceful and normal with people observing Ramzan festival with usual bonhomie.People from the northeast are going about their chores without any disturbance and the exodus has completely stopped", Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Suneel Kumar told PTI.

The Northeasterners are safe and secure, he said.

Railways, which ran additional trains to Guwahati after the sudden rush of fleeing northeasterners, did not operate any special services for the second consecutive day.

ADGP Railways Bhaskar Rao said "There are no trains to Guwahati today... passengers if any from Bangalore will be directed to board Yeshwanthpur-Howrah Express from Yeshwanthpur and will have to proceed to Guwahati from Howrah", he said.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R Ashoka has announced that he himself would work round-the- clock today for the safety of the northeastern people.

Ashoka undertook rounds along with top police officials last night and visited places inhabited largely by Northeast people.