A man of Indian origin in Australia has been arrested for alleged attacks on Sikhs, The Times of India reported on Sunday.
The man, identified as 24-year-old Vishal Jood, was charged with “three counts of affray, three counts of armed with intent to commit indictable offence, two counts of damage to property and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company of other”, the New South Wales Police said.
Jood was denied bail in the case and produced before a local court in Parramatta, a suburb in western Sydney, on Saturday.
The police said they had been investigating several violent incidents in Harris Park area since September, 2020. In the first incident, a man was allegedly hit on the head with a baseball bat several times and kicked.
In another incident on February 14, a man driving a car was allegedly attacked by a group of men, wielding sticks and other weapons, the police said.
“On Sunday 28 February 2021, a group of people travelling in a vehicle on Kendall Street was allegedly attacked by up to 10 men,” the police added. “The vehicle sustained serious damage.”
Jood’s visa has expired and he could be deported to India, The Tribune reported, citing Australian TV channel Seven News.
Sikh community leaders in Australia have noted a growing divide within the Indian-Australian community, The Guardian had reported last month. They alleged that Facebook and WhatsApp were being used to disseminate rhetoric against religious minority groups amid the farmers’ protest in India.
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