Oz condemns Indian's killing; police say attack not racial

Natasha Chaku
Melbourne, Jan 4 (PTI) Australian authorities Monday
"unreservedly" condemned the killing of an Indian youth here
calling his stabbing a heinous crime even as police claimed
there was no evidence to suggest that it was a racial attack.
21-year-old Nitin Garg, an accounting graduate who was
originally from Punjab, died after he was stabbed Saturday in
West Footscray area. He was the first to die in a slew of
attacks on Indians in Australia.
"I obviously unreservedly condemn this attack," Deputy
Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard said. "People in
Melbourne's west, people around the nation, I think they will
be joining together to say we unreservedly condemn this
violence."
Gillard said police should now be allowed to carry out
their investigation.
"This is a nation that welcomes international students,"
she said. "We want to make them welcome, this is a welcoming
and accepting country."
Condemning the killing of Garg, Victorian Acting Premier
Rob Hulls said "the tragic death of a young Indian lad
is ... abhorrent, it is a heinous crime and it is something
that the police are putting all resources into investigating
and finding the culprit."
Victorian police, meanwhile, denied any racism angle
in the killing of the Indian youth, claiming that there was
no evidence to suggest it was a racially-motivated attack.

"I think to draw any conclusion as to the motive may
interfere with the investigation and would be presumptuous
at this stage," Senior Sergeant Dave Snare from the Homicide
Squad was quoted as saying by 'The Age'.
Victorian Acting Premier Hulls also asked people not to
jump to conclusions about the incident being a racial attack.
He said he had not been advised on whether the stabbing was a
hate crime.
"I don't think anyone should jump to conclusions at
this stage. I think it's important that police be allowed to
get on with the job of investigating this heinous crime," he
said.
Hulls claimed that Victoria remained one of the safest
places in the world, with crime rates falling dramatically in
the past few years.
The government had introduced new legislation requiring
judges to consider hate crime in sentencing violent offenders
and police had extra powers to conduct random weapons
searches, he said.
"We will continue to do what we can as a government
to reduce crime, to make Victoria a safe place to live, a safe
place to have holidays, a safe place to visit," Hulls said.
Garg was stabbed in the abdomen as he walked to his part-
time job at Hungry Jack's restaurant in West Footscray on
Saturday night (0330 HRS IST yesterday). He died later in
hospital.
The attack drew strong reaction from India which said
such incidents could have a "bearing" on bilateral ties.
Nearly 100 cases of attacks on Indians had been
reported in Australia in 2009 as against 17 incidents of
assaults in 2008. PTI NC