Local commuters are terrified after a group of around 100 people went on a rampage at a train station in Melbourne’s southeast Wednesday night.
A Lynbrook resident who preferred to remain anonymous told SBS Punjabi that a ‘big’ group of youths forced open train and abused passengers at around 7:30pm at the train station.
Victoria Police says officers were called to Banjo Paterson Reserve about 7.30pm on receiving reports of an assault.
It is reported that 'a group of people' created ‘nuisance’ at the train station after police asked them to move from a nearby park.
Lynbrook resident Kulwant Singh said the Police and council should act to prevent anti-social behaviour by groups at the train station.
“This is not the first time we’ve heard the Police sirens. It’s a common thing to see PSOs confronting some people at the train station,” he told SBS Punjabi.
"The commuters don’t feel secure at night. They’re always afraid of a group of youths loitering around this area."
Another resident, Sukhjinder Singh, who often travels to the city from Lynbrook station, says he is scared after the ‘mob chaos’ news emerged.
“I share the feeling that something ‘bad’ is waiting to happen at the train station,” he said. “There’re surveillance cameras, but these anti-social elements are not afraid. My bicycle has been stolen twice. It was parked right under a CCTV camera."
Mr Singh says he has a feeling there is not much that can be done to stop it.
"I don’t think if you can stop a group of youth wandering around the train station or nearby parks unless a serious criminal offence occurs and Police interfere," he says.
Another resident, preferring to remain anonymous, said she is living in fear every day.
Lynbrook is home to a growing a Punjabi community. Source: Supplied
“We live next to the train station and it is a very common thing to see some teens or youths interrogated by police at night,” she said.
“This time it was pretty intense. We heard noises and swearing before a number of police cars arrived at the scene.”
She said police patrolling, parent and community consultations could help solve the growing problem of this anti-social behaviour.
Lynbrook is home to a growing Punjabi and Indian-Australian community.
According to the 2016 Census, there’re 1,261(14.2%) people of Indian-origin out of a total population of 8,519.
