Sixty-year-old Ahmed, a resident of Dhanshrikiti village in Udalguri district came to the camp with his family after he lost everything in the communal violence of October 3.

But now the state government, unwilling to take any chances, has cancelled all arrangements it had earlier made to send over a lakh refugees home.

Ahmed is one of the thousands of Muslim refugees stranded in relief camps after communal riots broke out in lower Assam districts of Darrang and Udalguri last month. Both Darrang and Udalguri are near Kokrajhar district where 21 people died in the Thursday blasts.

If there is a bond between the 1,866 residents—Muslims, Bodos and Bengalis—at this refugee camp at Burigaon High School, it is that of fear. “As we got to know of the bomb blasts, we all huddled together at one end of the camp. Our leaders frantically made calls from their cellphones, but could not get connected. There are rumours that we will be attacked,” said a tearful Ahmed.

“I was told we could go home soon. We were so happy. Though my house was burnt in the riots, this is the harvesting season and the paddy is ready. But now after the blasts I don’t know if we will ever be able to return to our village,” said Ahmed who owns 50 bighas.

At all relief camps, residents discuss the recent blasts in whispers. “We are not Bangladeshis. I was born here. What happened was wrong, so many innocent people died,” said Saidur Rahman, a pharmacist at Bechimari relief camp in Darrang who belongs to Rowta Bagan village in Udalguri district. There are about 2,500 people in this camp.

“We are afraid that after the blasts, the communal trouble will begin all over again. Why are they thrusting the Bangladeshi tag on us? How can they ask people who have no home and no food for identification papers,” said Najib-ur-Rahman, incharge of Burigaon camp and a local leader.

About 10 km away at the Hakatpur relief camp where 3,000 Bodos and about 100 Bengalis have taken shelter, the fear factor has gone up. “There is no one to look after us here. We fear they will target us and plant a bomb here too. We feel very insecure and have lost hope of returning home,” said Bimal Mushahari, who ran a betel nut shop in his village, Panbari, in Darrang district. “When we heard of the blasts, I ran away from the camp with my wife and children and hid in the paddy fields. Everybody was saying ‘they’ will attack us. Later we gathered courage and returned to the camp. Our house was burnt in the riots on October 3. Where will we go?” said Priti, Bimal’s wife.

Three armed guards have been posted at the Bhakatpara camp but the residents say the number is inadequate. “The Bangladeshis did this. And any day they will start attacking us,” added Rupeshwari Boro. The residents have taken it upon themselves to guard the camp and take turns to keep vigil.

“There is tension here, especially after the recent blasts. We planned to send the people back to their villages, but for obvious reasons the plan was cancelled. We are doing everything to maintain peace here,” said Dhrubajyoti Das, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Darrang.