Indian's murder in Australia linked to earlier assault

Police in Australia have linked the murder of an India-born businessman earlier this month to a case of assault against him in March this year.

Shyam Dhody, 37, was shot dead while he was on his bed in his home at Gilston, a suburb of Gold Coast city in the Australian state of Queensland, July 5.

His partner found his body after she returned from work that evening.

Dhody, who had made Australia his adoptive country, had run into major financial problems with banks repossessing several of his properties.

Now, police say that his murder may be linked to an assault on him outside his previous home at the Gold Coast suburb of Molendinar March 26 this year, according to local media reports.

At a media conference Friday, police displayed a crowbar they said was similar to one that was used by a man during the Molendinar assault.

The police said the crowbar used during the assault might have been dumped but they were looking for it as they believed it would yield vital clues to both the crimes.

Police have also released an identikit photo of the man involved in the assault case.

Meanwhile, Dhody's two brothers and parents arrived in Gold Coast July 15 and have made a fervent appeal to the people to help find his killer.

The victim's wife and two children, aged eight and five, live in India.