Australia investigates Indian toddler's death

Police in Australia's south-eastern state of Victoria are investigating the possible murder of a three-year old Indian boy.

Australian radio reported that police believe the body of a young boy found in Melbourne is that of Gurshan Singh.

He was reported missing by his parents who were holidaying in the area. His mother is a student in Australia.

Police warned against jumping to conclusions after several racist attacks on Indians in the past year.

Deputy police commissioner Sir Ken Jones said police were treating the incident as a homicide, and that he had assured India that police would do everything possible to find out what happened.

'Personally distressing'

Gurshan Singh, who was visiting from Punjab in northern India, disappeared from a house in the north of Melbourne early on Thursday afternoon.

About six hours after his disappearance, a council worker found a body at the side of a road. Sir Ken said it matched the boy's description.

"Sadly I'm pretty certain that the little dead child we found is in fact missing Gurshan," he said.

Victoria state premier John Brumby said he found the killing "personally distressing" but urged people not to presume any motive.

"What has occurred is an unthinkable tragedy. It's deeply, deeply distressing," he told reporters.

"There are no visible signs of the cause of death at this stage... but I think it's very important that no-one jumps to conclusions," he added.

The boy, whose mother was studying in Australia, had been in the country for about six weeks.

His death comes as Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has been trying to improve relations with India, a major export market, after a series of alleged race attacks.

The latest known attack was in January when Nitin Garg, 21, was stabbed to death as he walked to work at a burger restaurant.

The foreign minister had earlier acknowledged that some of the attacks, which prompted street protests last year, were "racist" following a series of denials by senior officials and police.

Last month, thousands of Australians visited Indian restaurants for a "Vindaloos Against Violence" campaign aimed at showing solidarity with the 450,000-strong community.