For the 1,700-odd people who reached Assam on Saturday morning in two special trains from Bangalore, the decision to return home was driven by rumours rather than any direct physical threat.
All of them -- students and professionals -- hoped that the situation would return to normal soon so that they would be able to return to their place of work or education in the big cities of south and west India.
"Nobody threatened me, nor do I know of any acquaintance who was directly threatened to leave. But there were lots of rumours, lots of hearsay," said Niranjan Mushahary after getting down at Rangiya station.
Mushahary, hailing from Khoirabari in Udalguri district, has spent a few years in Bangalore where he works in a private firm.
Around 600 passengers got off at the Rangiya station, while the rest alighted at Guwahati.
Ramen Narzari from Goreshwar, who works as a security guard in Bangalore, said people from Assam and other northeastern states were in a state of panic after news spread that they would be targeted in a big way after Eid-ul-Fitr.
"My family members at home asked me to return, even if for a short time," he said.
Kamrup (Rural) district administration made security and transport arrangements for all the returnees to their homes from Rangiya railway station. All Bodo Students' Union district president Paresh Chandra Bodo was at the station to receive the returnees.
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