Indian man arrested for series of violent hate crimes against Sikhs in Australia

An Indian man has been arrested in Australia for hate crime attacks on Sikhs.

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”, according to New South Wales Police.

Police had been investigating several violent attacks committed by Jood 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 14^th February 2021, 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 reportedly expired and he could be deported to India. He was denied bail in the case and produced before a local court in Sydney on Saturday.

There has been a growing divide between Sikhs and Hindus in Australia, according to a recent report by the Guardian newspaper, as online “hate factories”, using WhatsApp and Facebook, are spreading misinformation and propaganda amongst Hindus about Sikhs and radicalising people in Australia.