Missing Indian's body reportedly found in Aus

A body believed to be that of an Indian businessman, missing for the last two weeks in Australia, has been found in Victoria state, the police said on Wednesday.

Pardeep Kumar went missing on September 25 from Mildura after going for a business meeting. Kumar, 33, was last seen in Mildura Library and police said a witness saw him speaking to two Indians at the library.

The body, believed to be that of Kumar, was found at Monak, approximately 30 km from Mildura in north-west Victoria. The body was spotted by a man who happened to stop in the area for lunch, police said.

"Pardeep has developed himself into a contractor and had nearly 35 Indian nationals working for him, so he worked on a lot of big fruit blocks in the area. We know that he was here at the library and he did meet someone," a senior Sergeant was quoted as saying by ABC news.

"We have information and we have a witness who saw him talking to two other Indians," he said. Special forensic officers from Sydney also examined the scene on Tuesday.

The incident comes in the midst of a spate of racial attacks on Indians in Australia. Most of the victims have been students and over 30 Indians have been assaulted since July.