Indian student's car torched in Melbourne

Melbourne: In yet another incident targeting Indian students in Australia, a car belonging to a youth from the community has been torched here, even as police ruled out any racial motive behind it.

22-year-old Vikrant Rajesh Ratan, who had used all his savings to buy the car, said the vehicle was burnt last night.

He said that two other cars, also belonging to Indians that were parked next to his vehicle, were also damaged during the incident.

“We were sleeping when it all happened. We heard the fire alarm of the car. When we went out to see what happened we saw the cars on fire,” Ratan said.

He said that it could have been done by a group of drug addicts who used to sit near the premises. "I believe they (addicts) probably first tried to open the car. Then they may have used a petrol can to set it ablaze.”

Ratan, originally from Ludhiana who came here a month ago to pursue a certificate course in Automotive Engineering, said that there was no chance of a short circuit that could have burnt the car in this cold weather.

He said he had bought the vehicle a few days ago for 2500 dollars and now he was left with no money. The car was not even insured.

The incident has been reported to the Victorian police, who said they were in the process of getting more information.

But the police have ruled out any racial motive behind the incident.

A police spokesperson said "there was only one car that was torched while the other two cars had slight damage."

“"We are investigating who did this. However, it does not look like a racially motivated attack," she said.

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This was the latest in the spate of incidents targeting Indians in Australia. Among the victims of racial attacks is 25-year-old Shravan Kumar, a student from Andhra Pradesh, who remained critical after being stabbed with a screwdriver by a group of teenagers who also assaulted his three other Indian friends.

Indian activist opposes protest rally in Sydney

A prominent Sydney-based Indian activist has advised members of the community against attending a proposed rally in the city to protest attacks on Indians here, warning that the effort might backfire.

Calling the proposed rally as an "entirely futile" idea, Yadu Singh said he feared it might cause inconvenience to people and backfire on the Indian community.

Singh, who is attached to the Indian Consulate in Sydney and heads a committee concerned with the welfare of Indian students in Australia, attended a meeting convened by New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees yesterday to address the issue of the safety of Indians.

He said the exercise will be futile as the issue has already been taken up at the highest level.

"This rally is futile. We have already brought the issue of security and safety to the highest level," he said.

Singh, who said he has received several calls to attend the rally in Sydney today apparently being organised by members of the Indian community in the city, expressed his opposition to it.

"Nobody knows who the organisers are, even the police command does not know," he said.

Hundreds of Indians, mostly students, had earlier this week organised a massive rally in Melbourne to protest the recent spate of attacks on Indians in Australia.