Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard has condemned a cartoon depicting a Victorian police officer as a member of the Ku Klux Klan as "deeply offensive".
The cartoon appeared days after Indian graduate Nitin Garg was fatally stabbed in a Melbourne park while on his way to work at a Hungry Jack's restaurant.
Published in Delhi's Mail Today, it shows a police officer dressed in a white hood as a member of the Ku Klux Klan, saying: "We are yet to ascertain the nature of the crime".
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The cartoon came in response to homicide investigators in Victoria stating they could not yet say if the murder of 21-year-old Mr Garg was racially motivated.
Police 'doing an outstanding job'
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."
