Exodus continues: Two NE people pushed to death from Bangalore-Guwahati train

Aug 19, 2012, 13:53PM



Kolkata: At least two people were killed and nine others were injured after being reportedly thrown out of a Bangalore-Guwahati train carrying Assamese fleeing Bangalore even as the exodus of North Easterners from the southern cities to their home states continued.

According to reports, the incident took place on Saturday night between Belakoba and Raninagar stations near West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district.

Reports said that four out of eleven people were seriously injured when they were pushed out of the train shortly after it left New Jalpaiguri station. Railway sources said the train was carrying a large number of people from Assam who had left Bangalore following rumours that people from the northeast could be targeted.

Notably, two special trains arrived in Assam on Sunday morning carrying 1700 people who had fled the southern states after rumours of impending attacks.

The incident comes in the back drop of the exodus of people of Northeast from southern cities including Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Gripped by rumour-fuelled-fears of impending attacks on them, over 30,000 northeast people have left Bangalore fearing attacks on them while many of them have fled Chennai and Pune in the last three days, notwithstanding assurances from the Centre and the state governments.

Despite the government’s efforts to pacify the people, situation remains tense in the southern cities.

On Saturday, the government said that bulk of the rumours that triggered panic among people of northeastern states in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were sourced from Pakistan.

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