Missing Indian reportedly found dead

A body, believed to be that of a missing Indian businessman, was found in Victoria State.

Thirty three-year-old Pardeep Kumar, who has been missing for last two weeks, was last seen in the Mildura library on September 25, where he went for a business meeting.

The police, investigating Kumar’s case, said a witness saw him speaking to two Indians at the library before he went missing.

The body was found amid grass on Tuesday at Monak, about 30 km from Mildura in northwest Victoria. It was spotted by a man who happened to stop there for lunch, the police said.

“Since Pardeep’s been in Australia, he has developed himself into a contractor and had around 35 Indian nationals working for him, so he worked on a lot of big fruit blocks in the area. We know that he was here at the library and he did meet someone,” a senior Sergeant was quoted as saying by ABC News.

In another incident, a 28-year-old man, described by a witness as one of ‘Indian or Asian appearance,’ was stabbed and kicked to the ground in a brawl near Melbourne’s busiest intersections on Wednesday.

A Victoria police spokesman said the victim was taken to the hospital with a non-life-threatening, single stab wound. He said there were believed to be five attackers of ‘Asian appearance’ involved in the incident, who later jumped on a tram headed for Box Hill, The Age said.

However, an Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said some 10 people were involved in the brawl.

A witness told The Age that “a man of Indian or Asian appearance,” believed to be the victim, was sitting on the ground propped against a shop front.

However, it could not be confirmed immediately whether the victim was an Indian.

The woman, who called the ambulance, said she had seen almost 10 men crowding around the man before fleeing.

The police have arrested three suspects.

The latest incidents come amid a spate of racial attacks on Indians in Australia. Most victims are students, and over 30 Indians have been assaulted since July.