As rumours of alleged attack on the people from the Northeast triggered panic, people started fleeing the state on Thursday. In the last three days there has been an exodus of Assamese people, majority of them working as security guards in Madhapur’s Hitec City, who live in Siddiq Nagar, Anjaiah Nagar, Borabanda, Gachibowli, and Nanakramguda. Two Assam-bound trains from the city, East Coast Express and Falaknuma Express were jam-packed with passengers.
According to a report submitted by the security service agencies in the city to the Madhapur deputy commissioner of police, 935 security guards, who were working in private companies in Madhapur limits, have left for their hometown. “People have left not due to the violence factor, but because they were asked to return home by their family members fearing violence,” said the DCP.
Buphen, 28, a native of Tezpur, employed as a security guard in an IT company at Madhapur for the last three years, said his cousin had left for his native place as he was asked to return home.
“My mother also called me and asked me to leave the job and come home. However, I decided to stay back,” he said. One Assamese student from University of Hyderabad said, “We heard that two girls from Assam were killed in Indira Nagar. After we checked with friends in the media, we came to know that it was a hoax,” she said. Senior cops said the rumours were spread through SMSes and emails. “The news was triggered by false SMSes,” said a police offical.
The leaders of the Northeastern community in the city requested people not to panic. The chairman of Assam Youth Welfare Association Subhash Datta, who met the Madhapur DCP and other senior officials of Cyberabad, said there were no incidents of attacks on Assamese in the city.
A collective forum of the Northeastern community, which held a meeting in Secunderabad on Thursday night, analysed the ground realities, and requested the people from Northeast not to worry about their safety as the police have intensified security. “We believe the situation is all right. The city police has ensured security,” said Sam Khumanthem, of the forum.