Greater Noida Police on Tuesday conducted a flag march on Tuesday and booked almost 600 people for rioting and another 44 for attempt to murder in connection with the attack on four Nigerian students on Monday, The Times of India reported. Police have made seven arrests so far, DNA reported.

Around 200 police personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order in the area. “We have already registered a case against 10 people, of which seven have been arrested and three are still absconding. Another 300 unknown suspects have been figured out and we will be taking tough action against them,” DNA quoted Noida Superintendent of Police (rural) Sujata Singh as saying.

Meanwhile, district magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar, Greater Noida, on Tuesday said Monday’s violence against Nigerian residents in the area was not a hate crime. After his meeting with a delegation from the Nigerian Students’ Association, Nagendra P Singh said the incident was triggered by a rumour spread by a few people.

On Tuesday, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj tweeted saying she had spoken to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath about the matter. “He has assured that there will be a fair and impartial investigation into this unfortunate incident,” she had tweeted.

On Monday, four Nigerian students were injured after being attacked by a group of residents in Greater Noida’s Pari Chowk area. The incident took place when a group of more than 100 locals held a protest at the busy junction demanding that all Africans living in residential colonies in Greater Noida be asked to vacate their rented houses immediately.

The protest was organised after a Class 12 student in Greater Noida’s NSG Black Cats Enclave died of a suspected drug overdose on Saturday and five Nigerian students living in the neighbourhood were booked for murder. The students were later released for lack of evidence.

The situation worsened on Monday evening when reports of a Nigerian woman being abducted from near her apartment in Greater Noida’s Swarna Nagar were being circulated on WhatsApp. However, the police have dismissed this.