Some attacks were racially motivated: Australian police

Admitting for the first time that some of the recent attacks on Indians in Australia were "racially motivated", Victorian Police Commissioner Simon Overland today said the police force should be "multicultural" and asked the community members to join it.

Admitting for the first time that some of the recent attacks on Indians in Australia were "racially motivated", Victorian Police Commissioner Simon Overland on Tuesday said the police force should be "multicultural" and asked the community members to join it.

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He said the Victorian Police have interacted with the Indian students and were taking steps to make the environment in the state safe for everyone.

Overland, who had been denying any racial angle to attacks against Indians, said some of the recent attacks were "racist".

"We also feel that the police force should be multicultural and people from different communities including Indian should join the police," he told foreign journalists.

Commenting on the attacks, Overland said the police strength in Melbourne was less compared to the expanding population.

"The numbers are an issue and we will have 11,250 cops by the middle of next year. This means there will be 350 more cops than now," he said.

Overland said racism and violence were wrong and that the police were working to make sure that it does not go out of control.