The exodus of fear-stricken northeasterners in the wake of rumours of retaliatory attacks on them after the Assam violence abated today in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
In Bengaluru, the police beefed up security, deploying 17,000 personnel as government put its security machinery in top gear to instil a sense of confidence among the people of Northeast.
Three companies each of the CRPF and the RAF, 25 KSRP (Karnataka State Reserve Police) platoons and 35 City Armed Reserve platoons, 1,500 trainee policemen and 500 Home Guards are also being deployed here, police commissioner Jyothi Prakash Mirji told reporters.
Pickets would be posted and round the clock patrolling done to maintain law and order, he said, adding peace committee meetings have been held with various communities, with security measures being taken in view of Eid also.
Home minister R. Asoka who a met a three-member Nagaland delegation, comprising two ministers and its IGP, told them the exodus had stopped after the government assured them safety.
“Everything is calm. There is no need to panic. I have told police commissioner to work 24 hours on August 20. I myself will work 24 hours and patrol in the night to build confidence among all communities that Bengaluru is safe,” he told reporters after meeting the delegation.
“We have arrested 16 persons in the city during the last three days for intimidating or sending disturbing SMSes to the Northeast population. The situation is under control,” he said.
In Chennai, the exit of northeasterners from the city dwindled today with only a few hundred seen in the central railway station. Railway sources said three compartments were added to a train to the Northeast this morning to accommodate those who arrived from Bengaluru. The police said the number of those leaving, which was around 2000 every day, had dropped to less than 1,000 today.