Oz cops seek public help in solving Indian's murder in NSW

Natasha Chaku
Melbourne, Jan 24 (PTI) Australian police have appealed
to public to help it solve the murder of 25-year old Indian
youth Ranjodh Singh even as it said arrangements are being
made to send his body, which was found in a partially-burnt
state in New South Wales last month, to his native place.
Police are particularly interested in hearing from anyone
with information about activity in and around a car wash in
Yambil Street, Griffith, in early hours of December 29 when
Singh's body was found after unidentified assailants killed
him by slashing his throat and stabbing him multiple times
before setting him ablaze.
The body of Singh, who hailed from Punjab, has been
released by the coroner and arrangements are being made to
return it to India, police said.
"We're appealing for anyone who may have attended the car
wash, or who may have witnessed any persons using the car wash
facilities during the early hours of Tuesday, 29 December,
2009, to come forward," police officer Paul Smith was quoted
by AAP as saying.
Investigators are also keen to hear from anyone who
travelled on the Country Link bus between Griffith and Wagga
Wagga on that morning, he said.
Smith also asked for help to identify a distinctive red
1996 Ford Falcon that was seen in Griffith and Wagga Wagga
areas around the time of Singh's death, the report said.
Singh's burnt body was found beside Wilga Road,
Willbriggie, in the Riverina area of southwest NSW. He was a
seasonal contract worker living in Wagga Wagga and had been
visiting Griffith at the time of his death.
Earlier media reports said that two men, believed to have
been employed by Singh, had their passports seized at Sydney
Airport as they were about to board a flight to Nepal via
Singapore.
The pair were questioned at Mascot police station but
later released without charge after being forced to hand in
their passports.
Detectives believe Singh may have been murdered in a
fight over unpaid wages at a Christmas party two days before
his murder, the report said.
A post-mortem examination revealed his throat had been
slashed and he had suffered multiple stab wounds before he was
bound and set alight in an effort to conceal his identity,
Fairfax reported. PTI NC

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