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FOUR men allegedly involved in a race related assault on two Indian students in central Melbourne last night have been released from custody.
The remaining four men in the gang of eight alleged attackers, all described of being of Asian appearance, are currently being interviewed by police over the central city attack, which occurred around 10.20pm (AEDT) last night.
A police spokeswoman said it is expected that all of the men will be released today, pending further inquiries.
One of the victims, an 18-year-old Indian student, is now undergoing micro surgery in St Vincents Hospital.
He suffered a wound to his left ear from what appeared to be an edged weapon, police said.
The other student, a 22-year-old, was also punched to the ground and suffered minor abrasions to the forearm.
Police said a group of eight men of Asian appearance made racist comments to the men before the 18-year-old was pushed to the ground and kicked.
Start of sidebar. “The did make racist comments, that is an allegation,” a police spokeswoman confirmed today.
Gautam Gupta, spokesman for the Federation of Indian Students of Australia, said he would investigate rumours the students were attacked with a knife and determine whether it was a racial attack.
"I hope this attack will be a reminder of the difficult times we are living in and that something needs to be done,"' Mr Gupta said.
The attack comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Indian community following the stabbing murder of Indian student Nitin Garg in a park in Yarraville in Melbourne's inner-west on January 2.
Dr Yadu Singh, an advocate for Indian students and organiser of the Australia India Day celebrations marking Australia Day and the day India became a republic, said he doubted the attacks were linked to Australia Day.
"These criminals, these idiots who do this, don't have any understanding of Australia Day because they are too dumb to understand it," Dr Singh said.
He said rather than focusing on whether the crime was racially motivated, the public should be concerned about crime in general.
"Of course there are some incidents which have racial undertones, but for me rather than harping on about the race angle which may or may not be true, we should be looking at the crime angle.
"Victoria need to control the crime which is happening against the international students, because the same thing is not happening in Sydney."
"When Australia gets bad press in the international media 90 per cent is from Victoria."
The 22-year-old student did not require hospital treatment.
In another crime detracting from the spirit of Australia Day, three people were last night arrested over the theft of an Australian flag from a Sydney RSL Club.
A man, aided by two female accomplices, pinched the flag from Newtown RSL sub-branch about 10pm, after scaling a fence and cutting the flag's ropes with chicken shears.
The three left the club on pushbikes, but were later caught by police.
Four released after 'attack on Indian students ' | The Australian
The remaining four men in the gang of eight alleged attackers, all described of being of Asian appearance, are currently being interviewed by police over the central city attack, which occurred around 10.20pm (AEDT) last night.
A police spokeswoman said it is expected that all of the men will be released today, pending further inquiries.
One of the victims, an 18-year-old Indian student, is now undergoing micro surgery in St Vincents Hospital.
He suffered a wound to his left ear from what appeared to be an edged weapon, police said.
The other student, a 22-year-old, was also punched to the ground and suffered minor abrasions to the forearm.
Police said a group of eight men of Asian appearance made racist comments to the men before the 18-year-old was pushed to the ground and kicked.
Start of sidebar. “The did make racist comments, that is an allegation,” a police spokeswoman confirmed today.
Gautam Gupta, spokesman for the Federation of Indian Students of Australia, said he would investigate rumours the students were attacked with a knife and determine whether it was a racial attack.
"I hope this attack will be a reminder of the difficult times we are living in and that something needs to be done,"' Mr Gupta said.
The attack comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Indian community following the stabbing murder of Indian student Nitin Garg in a park in Yarraville in Melbourne's inner-west on January 2.
Dr Yadu Singh, an advocate for Indian students and organiser of the Australia India Day celebrations marking Australia Day and the day India became a republic, said he doubted the attacks were linked to Australia Day.
"These criminals, these idiots who do this, don't have any understanding of Australia Day because they are too dumb to understand it," Dr Singh said.
He said rather than focusing on whether the crime was racially motivated, the public should be concerned about crime in general.
"Of course there are some incidents which have racial undertones, but for me rather than harping on about the race angle which may or may not be true, we should be looking at the crime angle.
"Victoria need to control the crime which is happening against the international students, because the same thing is not happening in Sydney."
"When Australia gets bad press in the international media 90 per cent is from Victoria."
The 22-year-old student did not require hospital treatment.
In another crime detracting from the spirit of Australia Day, three people were last night arrested over the theft of an Australian flag from a Sydney RSL Club.
A man, aided by two female accomplices, pinched the flag from Newtown RSL sub-branch about 10pm, after scaling a fence and cutting the flag's ropes with chicken shears.
The three left the club on pushbikes, but were later caught by police.
Four released after 'attack on Indian students ' | The Australian
