World News

The police chief of Australia's Victoria state on Tuesday admitted that some of the attacks on Indian students across the country were racially motivated, as claimed by most of the Indian victims.

Victoria's chief commissioner of police Simon Overland said that some of the robbery attacks were racially motivated and others are were opportunistic.

"Whatever the motivation, the attacks are not okay. Violence is not okay, being robbed is not okay," Overland said.

Overland also highlighted that there is no place for racism in the community.

"There is a shared responsibility between police and the media to provide important messages to the public and to have an open dialogue to understand where the other is coming from, and finding suitable solutions to problems," Overland said.

Despite Australia's claims that the recent attacks on Indians are not racist in nature, figures revealed by police chief commissioner show that crimes against Indians have risen considerably in the past two years.

Earlier, Victoria police officials had released figures, which revealed that there were 1,083 reported cases of robbery and assault against Indians in 2007-08.