Now, Northeast Indians head back to Bangalore

Guwahati/Bangalore: Reflecting a gradual return to normalcy after the panic exodus, Northeast Indians headed back to Bangalore in special trains from Guwahati. The tension has also eased in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

A spokesman for the Northeast Frontier Railway Nripen Bhattacharya said in Guwahati that three special trains had left for Bangalore on Sunday taking back in a phased manner those who had fled from the capital of Karnataka fearing attacks on them sparked by rumours in the wake of violence in Assam.

The official, however, could not give the exact number of people returning to Bangalore.

Government officials said it would take two to three days before all of them return to Bangalore and other cities like Pune and Chennai from where thousands of fear-stricken Northeast Indians had fled.

After four days of panic-driven exodus of Northeast Indians, the situation eased on Monday with police and railway officials saying it has stopped in Karnataka and reduced to a trickle in Tamil Nadu.

In contrast to the exodus of Northeast Indians, it was a normal situation in Bangalore which was turned into a virtual fortress amidst tight security.

Upto 30,000 Northeast Indians had fled the country's IT capital since late last week, which abated on Sunday after the government went overdrive to instil confidence in the Northeast Indians.

Over 18,000 police personnel, bolstered by Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), kept a hawk-like vigil in Bangalore with Eid also being celebrated on Monday.

"The situation is absolutely peaceful and normal...People are going about their chores without any disturbance and the exodus has completely stopped," Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Suneel Kumar said.

Bangalore Police Commissioner Jyothi Prakash Mirji said they have held several peace committee meetings with community leaders and police also intensified night patrolling.

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.