Title - Bulk of NE rumours sourced from Pakistan: Home Secretary RK Singh | IDB - Indian Defence Forum

New Delhi: As over 30,000 panic-stricken Indians from the Northeast fled Bangalore after reports of attacks on some of them, Home Secretary RK Singh said that most of the rumours that let to the exodus came from Pakistan. The Home Secretary further said that the images of an incident which happened in Myanmar three and a half month back were circulated in Bangalore from across the border to incite people. Singh said that the issue will be taken up with the Ministry External Affairs. "We have set up two units to monitor all the websites. 34 websites have been identified so far," Singh added. Meanwhile, the panic among Indians from Northeast seems to have subsided as no trains for Guwahati have been deployed so far and the sale of tickets has also drastically come down. Lesser crowds were also seen in the Guwahati-bound trains from Mumbai and Bangalore on Saturday. Officials in Mumbai said there were a few empty seats in the Guwahati Express. Some passengers from Mumbai said panic was not the reason for their travel. There were similar scenes at the Bangalore railway station that saw lesser crowds on Saturday. However, 30,000 Indians from the Northeast have left Bangalore in the past four days after rumours of retaliatory attacks after Assam violence. Karnataka's Minister of State for Railway KH Muniyappa said, " 30,000 people have left so far, eight special trains have left since Wednesday. We'll arrange for special trains if they want to come back. The Karntaka government is keeping a close watch on the law and order situation in the state. Five companies of paramilitary force and the state police conducted flag march in areas where Northeast Indians are in majority - Austin Town, Audugodi and Koramangala. Eight special trains have left Bangalore since August 15. A special train from Hyderabad has also reached Guwahati, more trains are expected on Saturday. Helpline numbers have been set up by the Manipur government at the Guwahati station: 9435118534, 9435554909, 9436017654, 940145150. Helplines have also been set up for students and people from Arunachal Pradesh: 9864016193, 9435114076, 9854491360. Meanwhile, Assam ministers were in Bangalore and Hyderabad assuring the Northeast Indians to not act on rumours. Earlier, night patrols were carried out across several areas in Bangalore, where there is a strong presence of the Northeast Indians. Six people were arrested on Friday for spreading rumours and false SMSes. In fact, two ministers from Assam visited the Bangalore railway station, asking people to not panic and flee. Meanwhile, the Centre has also issued directions to all Internet service providers to disable any hateful content targetting the Northeast Indians. Bulk SMSes and MMSes have also been banned for 15 days to contain panic.