RailEnquiry

GUWAHATI: Over 4,600 panic-stricken migrants and students belonging to the Northeast returned to Guwahati in three trains from various south Indian cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai on Saturday morning. An official of the Northeast Frontier Railway said the first special train from Bangalore arrived at 5.20 am and the second at 7.50 am. The Bangalore-Guwahati express arrived at 9.30 am. Many are boarding the Saraighat Express from Howrah after they arrived in Kolkata.Sources in the Government Railway Police (GRP) said the actual number of people to have hit Guwahati could be more than 5,000 since many of them alighted at Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon. The GRP claimed among the passengers there was not a single victim of assault in south India. "Most of the passengers, who reached Guwahati are workers from the low income category," said a railway official.There was sheer chaos at the Bangalore railway station on Wednesday evening when thousands of NE migrants tried to board trains for Assam. On Saturday, they arrived in Guwahati and the relief on their faces was obvious. It was a three-day journey across the country without adequate food and water. More than 200 people were crammed into single bogeys. It was paranoia which forced them to flee after rumours started doing the rounds of violent repercussions. People even approached and questioned some of the NE natives about their ethnicity and some even claimed to have seen others being attacked by miscreants.

"There is deep fear among the people. We learnt that a couple of our people were harassed and even attacked. Eventually, rumours spread like wildfire. They were told that August 20 was the deadline for them to leave Bangalore. We met a youth who told us that he saw a group of people from a minority community attacking people. The police have not done enough. When we complained they didn't take us seriously," said Arun Sarma, who works as a security guard at a tech park in Bangalore.

Passengers who are yet to reach their respective towns and villages are taking temporary shelter at the bus station here. Many couldn't get a decent meal in the past three days. "We arrived here today from Bangalore and will head for Dhemaji later. It has been an exhausting journey," said T Doley, a passenger among a group of 20 heading for upper Assam.

The Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) has begun operating special busses to help migrants and students reach their respective towns and villages. ASTC began plying buses on Friday to Udalguri, Rowta, Harsingha, Tangla, Silapathar, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Bhairav Kunda, Thelamara and other remote areas in upper and lower Assam.

"We are also arranging buses for small groups of passengers. The bus station has become a transit point. We are getting more passengers for lower Assam. NGOs are asking for more buses for areas within the BTAD," said H Malakar, station superintendent, ASTC.

Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner, Ashutosh Agnihotri, told TOI that a magistrate is on round-the-clock duty at the Guwahati station. "We have made all necessary arrangements for the comfort of passengers arriving at Guwahati. Buses have been arranged to carry them to the Inter State Bus Terminal, from where they will head for their respective districts," said Agnihotri.

The administration has also kept a medical team at the station. "We have left all our personal belongings behind; we just took the basic essentials and headed for the station. I was with my friends when a group of people barged into our room and started rummaging through our possessions. They asked uncomfortable questions about our ethnicity and threatened us with dire consequences," said Mynah Sarma, another security guard. "We were really worried after rumours started spreading. Though I received no threat, I decided to leave for the purpose of safety," said Kamal Boro, a youth from Udalguri under BTC area, who works in a plywood company on Kilari Road in Bangalore. Three more passenger trains will reach Guwahati from Bangalore on Sunday. On Saturday evening, a Bangalore-bound special train will leave Guwahati station at 8 pm. Another train will leave Kamakhya at 11.45 pm.

There is deep fear among the people. We learnt that a couple of our people were harassed and even attacked. Eventually, rumours spread like wildfire. They were told that August 20 was the deadline for them to leave Bangalore. A youth told us that he saw a group of people from a minority community attacking people.