The worst fears of Ranjodh Singhs family members were confirmed on Wednesday when they received a call from the Australian police. The 25-year-old Ranjodh had gone missing in Australia since December 27. Two days later the police found a partially burnt body in Griffith,which they suspected was that of the missing Indian. Ranjodhs family members were informed about the body but were told that the police were still awaiting confirmation. The confirmation call came on Wednesday morning it was indeed Ranjodhs body leading to wails of anguish and sorrow at the young mans house in this Patiala village. The New South Wales (NSW) police confirmed,The man has today been positively identified as 25-year-old Ranjodh Singh,an Indian national who had been living in Wagga Wagga and visiting the Griffith area at the time. The news came even as another family from the state was yet to recover from the loss of their son Nitin Garg a 21-year old from Jagraon in Punjab who was stabbed to death in Melbourne Saturday night. Ranjodhs brother Satnam Singh said he got a call around 4 am from a person who identified himself as a detective working for the NSW police department. We were told that the police in Australia had no doubt that the unidentified partially burnt corpse that they had recovered,was Ranjodhs. We have been asked to submit some documents to claim the body and get it shifted to India, he said. Talking to The Indian Express over phone,spokeswoman for the NSW police Rebecca Walsh confirmed that the corpse was identified following the postmortem report and belongings recovered from the body. Strike Force Bramwell officers have conducted a number of inquiries into Singhs death with investigations leading the police to a home at Kookora Street,Griffith last night,which was examined by a forensic team. However we have no more concrete information about the accused or the reason for the crime, she stated. We are reaching out to all members of the Griffith community to come forward including members of the local Indian community who might hold crucial information that could be the key to solving Mr Singhs death, said Griffith Local Area Command Crime Manager,Detective Inspector Paul Smith,in the release. The NSW police have appointed a detective who speaks Punjabi and Hindi as a liaison officer to get assistance from the Indian community. We are hoping that someone may have have seen something, Smith said. Dont fuel hysteria: Aussie minister to India MELBOURNE: On a day the Australian police confirmed the death of another Indian,an Australian minister asked India not to whip up hysteria over the murder of young expatriate Nitin Garg,saying such incidents occur everywhere including in Mumbai,London and New York. He claimed Australia remained safe for foreign students. There was no evidence to suggest that the attack on Garg,a student who was fatally stabbed,was racially-motivated,acting Foreign Minister Simon Crean said,adding it was one of a spate of stabbings in Melbourne over the Christmas period. It so happens that one of the victims is Indian . Melbourne is not the only city in the world where this happens. It also happens in Delhi and in Mumbai, Crean was quoted as saying by The Age. About comments by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna who termed the killing of Garg as a brutal attack,Crean said he hoped wiser heads will prevail. The report said Crean asked Indian leaders not to fuel hysteria over the issue,while conceding that there could be economic repercussions of the issue. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard,meanwhile,insisted that her country is safe for all international students and said acts of violence occur in big cities around the world. Her comments came in the wake of India issuing a travel advisory for Australia. PTI
