The city police have arrested 16 people for circulating mischievous text messages and spreading panic among the North-Easterners in the city.

The arrested also included those who attacked and threatened the North-Easterners to leave the city. The police have registered 15 cases at various police stations in the city.

City Police Commissioner B.G. Jyothiprakash Mirji said one of the masterminds, Anees Pasha – a mobile repair shop owner in Koramangala seventh block – has been arrested for sending bulk SMSes and uploading videos, which contained hate messages targeting the North-Easterners.

He warned mischief-mongers that they would be dealt with strictly and booked under the stringent Section 153(A) of the IPC for inciting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion.

He said, “A large contingent of 600 personnel from the CRPF and RAF, 1,500 trainee policemen, 600 home guards and 18,000 regular policemen has been deployed. They will continue to patrol the city streets over the next 10 days, even after the Ramzan celebrations,” he said.

DG&IGP Lalrokhuma Pachau said the exodus of North-East people from the city has subsided with just 300 people leaving on Saturday.

“I am in constant touch with all the police chiefs of the seven North-Eastern states and have assured them that none of their people in the city would be targeted and the situation in Bengaluru is normal,” he said.

arrange special classes, minister tells colleges

The state government has directed all colleges and universities to arrange for special coaching and special examinations if neccessary for students from the north east who have fled the city.

Higher education minister C. T. Ravi advised colleges to help NE students, sources in the higher education department said.

“The minister has directed the colleges to provide lodging and boarding facilities to NE students if they are under threat,” said a senior officer.

Bangalore University Registrar Prof B.C. Mylarappa said no student has complained of receiving any threat. “We have a helpline number and are in touch with all the affiliated colleges. But none of our students have received any threat,” he said.

RGUHS puts off exams: The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences has put off all its under graduate examinations scheduled to start on August 23. Three helplines have been launched for north east students on 9141935874/ 8453816903 and 8453755276.

We’ll guard you: Muslim leaders to N-e families

A day after the first assault case was booked in Neelasandra, Muslim leaders, with the local police, held a confidence-builing meeting and invited North-Easterners in the locality to the area’s biggest mosque, Masjid-E-Akbari, on Saturday.

At the meeting, organised by members of seven mosques and eight madrasas of Neelasandra, Shantinagar legislator N.A. Harris appealed to Muslim leaders to help the police nab the culprits. “There are bad elements in every community. Let us not spare anyone,” he said.

He also asserted that people from the North-East need not worry as the entire community will come forward to provide shelter and food if the situation warrants it.

Masjid-E-Akbari president Abdul Rehman said the Muslisms are never against N-E residents. “A stray incident like should not strain our long-standing relationship.

You have guarded us and our wealth when we went to sleep. Now, God has given us opportunity to guard you and your family.

We will not disappoint you in our duty. Whether it is pre-Ramzan or post-Ramzan, we will stand by you,” Mr Rehman said.

On behalf of N-E residents, Bharathiya Gorkhali Welfare Association president Bhimdarshan Thapa said the gesture has infused confidence among them.

“I’m staying here for the last three decades. I don’t want go back as people of Bengaluru have given me everything,” he said.

Gulbarga cops contact North-East students

The Gulbarga on Saturday assured North-East students of security. Superintendent of police Pravin Pawar said the district has over 300 students from the North-East and most of them have been contacted.

“We have assured them of all help and given them contact numbers of police officers in the event of trouble,” he said. No complaints of threat have been received so far, he added.

Mysore police hold peace meet

The Mysore police on Saturday claimed to have made a headway in its investigation into the recent attack on a Tibetan student.

DCP Basavaraj Malagatti said no anti-social element would be allowed to trigger communal violence in the city.

The police also held a peace meeting with representatives of Tibetans and Muslim and Hindu leaders in the city.

Colleges come to students’ rescue

City colleges are doing everything they can to make their students from the North-East feel safe on campus, even setting up co-ordination committees to provide emergency support if needed.

The Atria Institute of Technology, for instance, has offered free hostel facilities for all students who don't live on campus.

College principal, Prof. M S Shivakumar says the management has offered to let all its 16 NE students stay in its hostel free of cost. " We also sent the students to a meeting organised by the police to make them feel safe, ” he said.

The Baldwin Methodist College organised a confidence building meeting on campus and gave a pep talk to the 80 students from the NE who participated.

Principal Dr Joshua Samuel also spoke to the students individually and local students pledged to stand by their friends at all times.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has, meanwhile, launched four helplines beside a care center for the benefit of NE students.

ABVP city secretary, Prem, said they had received several hundred calls over the last four days.

“Our activists are working round the clock at the railway station where we have set up a help center. But we have not received any complaint from college students about trouble on campuses,” he added.

Mangalore students still apprehensive

Rumours on the threat messages and phone calls seem to have had their affect on some of the students of North-Easten states studying in Mangalore.

The concern was revealed during AICC general secretary Oscar Fernandes’ interaction with students from the North-East States studying at M.V. Shetty College in Mangalore on Saturday.

Anjali, hailing from Tripura, claimed she had received three calls on Thursday from three unknown numbers questioning her whereabouts.

However, the caller did not threaten her. “Of the three, two were Karnataka numbers and another of Kerala.

The voice was similar and the person was speaking in Hindi asking where was I from and where was I staying. I received these calls in a span of two hours,” Anjali said.

Worried, Anjali broke and threw the SIM card of her mobile and brought this to the notice of Students’ Welfare Officer of the college, Mr Iftikar Ali.

The welfare officer said he had noted the number and was looking into the matter.Trying to instill confidence, MLA U.T. Khader declared that a party would be arranged for the students on the occasion of Ramzan.

Addressing the students, Mr Fernandes promised security and asked them not to heed to any rumors.

Number of people fleeing down to few hundreds

After three consecutive days of panicking north easterners fleeing the city in their thousands, the city railway station finally saw only a few hundreds of them boarding trains for home on Saturday.

As the railways didn’t arrange any special trains to carry them, around 200 passengers held a protest before the station in the afternoon.

Those who were gathered at the railway station till Friday evening were sent home on a 11.45pm train, according to railway officials.

“But as there wasn't much of a rush on Saturday, we didn’t arrange any special trains,” said a senior officer. It is believed that around 35,000 people have left the city over the last three days.

While divisional manager, South Western Railways (SWR), Anil Kumar Agarwal says 29,363 tickets were sold to Guwahati bound passengers between August 15 and 17, a senior officer of the railways thinks the number could be around 35,000. Nearly 5000 people could have travelled ticketless on the eight special trains, he said.