The Assam government Wednesday announced the formation of vigilance groups to prevent harassment of genuine Indians in the name of hounding suspected Bangladeshi nationals from the state.

"The vigilance committees will comprise representatives of political parties, eminent citizens, police and members of social organisations to monitor the process of identification of suspected Bangladeshi migrants in each and every district of the state," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told .

The formation of the vigilance committees comes in the wake of reports of harassment of Indian citizens in the name of evicting illegal Bangladeshi settlers from Assam.

Thousands of suspected Bangladeshi migrant workers have been fleeing Assam for the past week after an unidentified group distributed leaflets asking them to leave or face action.

The group has been sending messages through mobile telephones and distributing handbills asking locals not to employ "illegal foreigners".

On Tuesday, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) joined the chorus of protest by giving an ultimatum to suspected Bangladeshi nationals to leave Assam by June 7.

"We would not be responsible for any untoward incidents if they do not leave," the VHP warned in statement.

The All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU), an influential students' group representing minority Muslim and non-Assamese speaking communities in the state, has also called for a 10-hour general strike in Assam on May 24 on the issue.

"We have reports of harassment and torture on genuine Indians by unidentified persons in the name of driving away Bangladeshi nationals," AAMSU president N.U. Ahmed said.

"The government should take immediate steps to prevent such acts as this could lead to communal tension in the region."

Police in eastern Assam's Tinsukia district Tuesday arrested two people for assaulting some Bengali speaking road construction workers and forcing them to leave the state.

"We later found that some of the workers who were assaulted possess residence proof certificates and were very much Indian citizens," a senior police official said.

Most of the Bengali speaking workers were engaged by local contractors in brick kilns, road and building construction works. A large number of them also pull rickshaws.

Assam shares a 272 km border with Bangladesh, a vast stretch remaining unfenced, with India often claiming that large scale infiltration from across the border was threatening the region's demographic profile.

Dhaka denies charges of illegal infiltration of their citizens into India.