Chief minister Nitish Kumar spoke to his Gujarat counterpart, Vijay Rupani, about widespread hate attacks on migrant workers from Bihar and their exodus from the coastal state, appealing to everybody not to harbour such feelings for the people of other states.

He said the guilty should be punished but there should not be any hatred towards other people. “I spoke to him (Vijay) yesterday (Sunday). The government there is alert and aware about the situation. I will request everybody that the person who has committed any wrong or crime earlier, should be punished and strict action should be taken against him. But such hatred should not be harboured against others,” Nitish told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of online mutation and land rent payment facility in Patna on Monday.

Gujarat has been witnessing violent attacks targeting people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for over 10 days after a 14-month-old child was allegedly raped by migrant workers in Sabarkantha district on September 28. Worried over the attacks and exodus of Bihar natives, Nitish called Vijay on Sunday evening, after the violence escalated. Senior officials from both the states are in touch.

“Senior officials, including the DGP (director-general of police), are in touch. They are keeping a tab on the things happening there and are making efforts to mitigate them. Still, I appeal to everybody one should not have such feelings for the people of other states,” Nitish added.

Around 350 people have been arrested from six districts in Gujarat in connection with the attacks on migrant workers. The Union home ministry, too, is monitoring the situation. Many of the attackers have been alleged to be members of Gujarat Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor’s organisation Kshatriya Thakor Sena. The BJP and its allies have blamed Alpesh and Kshatriya Thakor Sena for inciting people, leading the attacks and spreading the violence, which he has vehemently denied.

Rahul Gandhi had recently appointed Alpesh as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary for Bihar, where the Congress president is trying to strengthen the party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

JDU MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar has written an open letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi asking him to stop his workers from targeting north Indians living in Gujarat. “You appointed Alpesh as party secretary for Bihar and then deployed the militia run by him to chase away the people of Bihar working there from their hearth and home,” Neeraj wrote in the letter to Rahul.

Reacting to the JDU MLC’s charge, Congress leader Prem Chand Mishra said Neeraj should first point out to Nitish that the attacks on the people of Bihar are occurring in a state ruled by ally BJP.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Madan Mohan Jha pooh-poohed the allegations against Alpesh. He said the BJP government there was trying to hide its failure on the law and order front by blaming the Congress.