Patna, Jan. 6: The militant mayhem on Hindi-speaking migrants in Assam has triggered a red alert in Bihar — so that trains to and from the northeastern state are not targeted in a backlash.

As he announced the security beef-up in railway stations and trains, chief minister Nitish Kumar nudged his opposite number in Guwahati to do his bit and protect the thousands of Bihari labourers in Assam, in the line of militant fire since last evening.

After calling up Tarun Gogoi and Union home minister Shivraj Patil, Nitish rushed three of his ministers and two senior officials to Guwahati.

In Bihar, orders to tighten vigil have gone out to all district magistrates and police chiefs, especially those whose areas lie on the route of Assam trains. In the past, attacks on Biharis in Assam have provoked retaliation on passengers from the Northeast.

At least seven Assam trains — Dibrugarh Rajdhani, Brahmaputra Mail, Northeast Express, Lohit Express, Avadh-Assam Express, Guwahati-Dadar Express and Guwahati-Bikaner Express — pass through Bihar.

“I appeal to the people of Bihar and Assam not to get incited and refrain from reacting. We can reply to such incidents only by exercising patience,” Nitish said at a news conference in Patna.

“Every citizen has the fundamental right to work anywhere in the country. A large number of people from Bihar, mostly workers, go out of the state in search of livelihood. They cannot be discriminated against anywhere in India. The state government is committed to protecting the rights of such people.”

Nitish, who cancelled his Jamshedpur trip today, has requested Delhi and Guwahati to compensate the families of those killed and, on his part, has announced Rs 1 lakh for each victim’s kin.

The Government Railway Police have intensified patrolling at stations. Its deputy inspector-general, Ajay Kumar Verma, said: “The number of police escorts on each Assam-bound train has been increased from 10 to 20.”

Verma said the GRP was in touch with district police stations to keep a tab on railway tracks so that there was no violence between stations.

The Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal, headed by railway minister Lalu Prasad, asked the Prime Minister to step in and help resolve the “ever-lingering” crisis.

“It is time the Prime Minister called a meeting of chief ministers to find a solution to such parochialism,” RJD state president Abdul Bari Siddiqui said.