Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar expressed worry over the incidents of attack on the workers from Bihar in Tamil Nadu and asked his officials on Thursday to get in touch with their counterparts there to ensure the safety of the victims.

However, it turned out to be a case of much ado about nothing as the Tamil Nadu police denied attacks on Hindi-speaking people.

“I saw the news and talked to my senior officers about it. I have asked the chief secretary and the director general of police (DGP) to get in touch with their counterparts to ensure the safety of workers from Bihar. They are talking with Tamil Nadu officials over the issue,” Nitish told reporters at the legislative Assembly premises.

Several newspapers and television channels have claimed widespread attacks over Hindi-speaking workers and labourers in Tamil Nadu in which at least two persons were suspected to have died and dozens were injured. Most of them were from Bihar.

The reason behind the incident was said to be the anger of the Tamil Nadu natives over being replaced by workers from Bihar.

Several photographs and videos of the alleged attacks went viral on several social media platforms, inducing fear of psychosis and triggering an exodus of workers from the southern state to Bihar.

Incidentally, Bihar deputy chief minister and RJD Tejashwi Prasad Yadav is currently in Tamil Nadu to attend the birthday celebrations of its chief minister M.K. Stalin.

Later in the day, the Bihar police issued a detailed statement on the present situation of the workers in Tamil Nadu.

“The Bihar police took immediate cognisance of information from various mediums about migrant Hindi-speaking workers in Tamil Nadu. The Bihar DGP (R.S. Bhatti) talked to his counterpart (C. Sylendra Babu) there. The Tamil Nadu police have informed that the attacks were just rumours and the media posts were without checking on the facts,” the statement said.

“According to the Tamil Nadu police, of the two videos being circulated, one is of a clash between workers from Bihar and Jharkhand at Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, while the second video is of a clash between locals in Coimbatore. All Hindi-speaking people are safe there and attention is being given to everybody’s safety, life and honour,” the statement further added.

The Bihar police also pointed out that their Tamil Nadu counterparts have appealed to the people not to believe any misleading news or rumours. They have also tweeted it on their official handle.