BANGALORE, India—Thousands of panic-stricken Indians from the northeast were fleeing the southern city of Bangalore, spurred by rumors they would be attacked in retaliation for communal violence in their home state.

Hundreds of students and workers from Assam state crowded Bangalore's main railway station to try to board trains heading out of the city, while officials tried in vain to assure them of their safety. People pushed and shoved and some climbed in through train windows to make it past the crush at the doors.

The exodus followed clashes in Assam in recent weeks between members of the indigenous Bodo ...

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