Indian community leaders in Australia on Thursday hailed efforts of Victorian police in arresting and charging a teenager involved in the murder of Nitin Garg early this year.
Victorian police charged a 15-year-old boy, whose identity was not disclosed, killing Garg and said that the attack was not racially motivated.
Indian student Garg, 21, was stabbed to death while walking to work through a park on January 2, and the incident was one in a series of violent attacks against Indians in Australia.
Federation of Indian Students in Australia (FISA) spokesperson Gautam Gupta lauded the role of Victorian police in charging the teenager and said the Indian students attack crisis has helped in making Victoria a safe place.
President of Federation of Indian association of Victoria Vasan Srinivas said that it was an excellent effort on part of the Victorian police.
“They have been able to solve the case after so many months. However, it is sad to know that again a teenager has been involved in such a crime,” he said.
Commenting on the breakthrough in the six-month-old case, Primus Telecom CEO Ravi Bhatia said: “Once again, Victoria Police have proven that they are truly professional.
Nitin Garg case was very difficult as the murder took place in an isolated park late in the evening without witnesses.”
He said: “We would like to thank and congratulate Inspector Bernie Edwards and Senior Sergeant David Stare for superb police work. Considering the age of the suspect is not time to consider changes in law so that those who commit adult crimes must do adult time regardless of their ages?”
Sydney-based cardiologist Yadu Singh said, “I am happy to see that Nitin Garg’s alleged killer has been arrested and charged. I believe that this alleged killer should be tried in an adult court as he committed an adult crime.
“While I feel happy that the alleged killer has been arrested, I remain concerned about the crime situation in Melbourne. Victoria police needs to do proactive policing to control crime there. Only the other day, some juvenile criminals assaulted passengers in a Melbourne train,” he said.
