Drivers nabbed in road blitz

February 27, 2010 - 9:46AM

Six drink drivers, two "disqualified" drivers and three "unlicensed" drivers have been caught in a road blitz in Melbourne's outer east.

Eighteen people with 108 outstanding warrants worth $35,000 were also nabbed in the operation between Victoria Police, the Sheriff's Office, VicRoads and the Victorian Taxi Directorate.

Police checked about 2200 drivers on the Maroondah Highway, Lilydale, between 7pm and 11pm (AEDT) on Friday.

They found five unregistered vehicles and 25 unsafe vehicles, and issued 41 penalty notices and 58 defect notices.

VicRoads issued nine defect and five penalty notices and detected four pollution offences.

Police used numberplate recognition cameras to check registrations against any outstanding matters in relation to vehicles.

AAP

This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/drivers-nabbed-in-road-blitz-20100227-p9n2.html

Acting PM Julia Gillard and police union condemn cartoon in Indian newspaper comparing Australian police to Ku Klux Klan

Police blast KKK cartoon

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Indians protest death of Indian student

Cartoon published in the Indian newspaper Mail Today after the murder of Nitin Garg / supplied.

UPDATE 2.15pm: ACTING Prime Minister Julia Gillard has condemned a cartoon depicting an Australian police officer as a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

The cartoon, published in Delhi's Mail Today newspaper on Tuesday, depicts an Australian police officer in a klan hood saying: "We are yet to ascertain the nature of the crime."

The cartoon was in response to homicide investigators in Victoria stating they could not yet say if the murder of 21-year-old Indian student Nitin Garg in a park in Melbourne's west last Saturday night was racially motivated.

Ms Gillard told reporters in Brisbane she hadn't seen the cartoon, but believed it would be "deeply offensive''.

"Any suggestion of the kind is deeply offensive and I would condemn the making of such comment,'' she said.

Police were doing an outstanding job in cracking down on crime and increasing Indian students' safety, Ms Gillard said.

"The Victorian police have stepped up and increased policing in difficult hot spots in Victoria where they have seen a number of violent incidences,'' she said.

"They have worked in close collaboration with representatives of the Indian community as they have gone about with this step up in policing."

Greg Davies, secretary of Victoria's Police Association, said the cartoon was "stupid'' and unhelpful.

"Cartoons in Australia are normally done by people who are either clever or witty and this one's neither,'' he told reporters in Melbourne today.

"All it does is stir racial hatred amongst Indians, certainly in India and, one would imagine, some of them here.''

He said the cartoon was "highly offensive'', especially to homicide squad detectives who are working tirelessly to catch Mr Garg's killer and determine a motive for the late-night stabbing.

"To suggest that there's any sort of 'go slow' in an investigation into this tragic murder because of a racial reason is just outrageous," Mr Davies said.

Mr Davies said if he had the chance to speak with the cartoonist he would tell him the artwork should never have been published.

Mr Garg's murder has sparked a renewed debate about the safety of foreign students in Australia.

Some local Indian leaders say racism is a significant issue for Indians who study in Australia.

Victorian Police Minister Bob Cameron dismissed the cartoon as an unnecessary distraction from a major crime investigation.

"We are a tolerant place and Victorian police are very tolerant and this business about racism is just wrong,'' he told 3AW radio today.

"Police go about their business in a normal way.

"They get the evidence, they assess the evidence ... to accuse police of having a closed mind when, in fact, what police have said is 'we have an open mind to all possibilities' just demonstrates that this is totally off the table when it comes to common sense.''

The Indian government has predicted the attack will affect relations between the two countries, and although it has ruled out sanctions, it has once again pressed Australia to ensure the safety of its citizens.

Victoria Police has declined to comment on the cartoon controversy.

Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe yesterday issued a personal assurance to India's high commissioner that "everything possible" was being done to bring the person responsible for Mr Garg's death to justice.

Mr Walshe maintained that police still had no evidence to suggest the murder of Mr Garg was racially motivated. He acknowledged that some crimes against Indians living in Melbourne had been motivated by racism.

He was supported in his comments by the Australian high commissioner to India, Peter Varghese, who said most crimes against Indians living and studying in Melbourne were "opportunistic, urban" crimes.

The Indian high commissioner in Australia, Sujatha Singh, yesterday met the Melbourne consulate-general of India, Acting Premier Rob Hulls and Mr Walshe to express her concerns about violence towards Indians living in Melbourne.

Mr Hulls, who is also Attorney-General, said he and Mr Walshe had made it clear that "everything that can possibly be done to find the perpetrator of this abhorrent crime is being done".

"We have also assured the high commissioner that we are a safe state, that we are a welcoming state," he said.

His comments came as detectives from the homicide squad set up an information caravan across the road from the Yarraville Hungry Jack's restaurant into which Mr Garg stumbled after he was stabbed in Cruickshank Park.

VICTORIA POLICECORPORATION USE MURDER AS AN EXCUSE TO "TRIAL" ORWELLIAN SEARCH TACTICS

Weapons blitz in wake of Nitin Garg killing yields results

Indian student Nitin Garg was stabbed and killed. Source: HWT Image Library

POLICE have found knives, a machete and knuckledusters in a random search for weapons at a Melbourne railway station, days after Indian student Nitin Garg was stabbed nearby.

In a show of their resolve to stamp out violent street crime, a team of officers patrolled Footscray train station today searching for knives.

The trial search-and-seize blitz, dubbed operation Omni, has been made possible by a beefing up of police powers and is expected to be expanded to other suburbs.

This murder was an excuse to bring in totalitarian undemocratic powers that the public would never otherwise agree to-just like the Martin Bryant cover up & the Bali and 9/11 inside jobs-as well as to offer the Police Corporation more income making opportunities.

Police have the power to search individuals at random for knives and other weapons in designated areas without a search warrant.

Actually, no they do not.

People were scanned with a metal detector wand, then frisked and body searched if required.

In all, 182 people were searched at the station in the three hours to 4pm (AEDT) on Thursday, police said.

Seven people were found carrying 12 weapons in total.

175 INNOCENT PEOPLE HAD THEIR LIBERTIES SMASHED AND THEIR PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE DENIED.

Police also issued four penalty notices for people carrying alcohol on public transport, hindering or obstructing an operation-THIS MEANS POINTING OUT THE ILLEGALITY OF THE POLICE CORPORATIONS ACTIVITIES, disorderly conduct and drunkenness.

One person with outstanding warrants was arrested.

Deputy Police Commissioner Kieran Walshe said the operation was a success.

"Today's operation has enabled us to detect these weapons before they are used in crimes, making the area much safer for train commuters and the broader community," he said in a statement.

"It is our intention to run a number of targeted operations in weapons hot spots this year until we see a reduction in weapon related crimes," he said.

Earlier, Mr Walshe told reporters police were required to give the public seven days notice of planned search operations but other, intelligence based, searches could be carried out without warning.

"I am confident that these laws are going to give us a great opportunity to take weapons out of the community," Mr Walshe said.

Acting Premier Rob Hulls said Nitin Garg's death "confirms absolutely that we have to do everything we can to support police to wipe out street crime, to wipe out knife-related crime, and that's why these powers are so important".

Mr Hulls and the deputy commissioner met with the Indian high commissioner and consul general on Thursday to reassure them that Victoria was doing everything possible to bring Mr Garg's killer to justice.

They also sought to assure the Indian diplomats that Victoria was a safe place to study.

Mr Garg, 21, was stabbed in a park late Saturday night as he walked to his part-time job at a Hungry Jack's restaurant.

He died later in hospital.