Indian PM moves to assure fleeing migrants

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh assured migrants from the northeast of the country that they were safe as thousands fled Mumbai, Bangalore, and other cities yesterday, fearing a backlash from violence against Muslims in Assam.

Railway authorities have laid on extra trains from Bangalore and other cities for the two-day journey back to Assam, a state in the northeast famous for its tea plantations and oilfields.

Some media reports said that, by yesterday, as manyas 15,000 had left cities in the south and west.