Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given Malcolm Turnbull a call to express deep concern over the killing of Brisbane bus driver Manmeet Alisher, who was killed on Friday after an incendiary device was allegedly hurled through the window of the bus he was driving in Morooka.
There has been some suspicion that the attack on Alisher – who was a respected member of the Brisbane Punjabi community – was a hate crime, though authorities claim that there is no current evidence which supports that assertion. Vikas Swarup, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, confirmed in a statement that Modi had called Turnbull.
PM speaks to Australian PM Turnbull to convey Diwali greetings, expresses concern over killing of Manmeet Alisher https://t.co/HKJA2n5jFq
— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) October 30, 2016
The statement addresses the PM’s concern:
Prime Minister Modi also conveyed a sense of concern being felt in India over the recent brutal killing of Mr. Manmeet Alisher, a person of Indian origin, in Australia. Prime Minister Turnbull expressed shock at the killing and conveyed that the matter is being investigated.
Alisher’s death evokes the 2009 crisis involving attacks on Indian students, which caused a 40% drop in Indian enrolments in Australian universities and sparked wide protests.
Anthony O’Donohue, 48, has been charged with the killing, along with arson and 11 counts of attempted murder.
Source: The Guardian.
Photo: Supplied.
