By DPA
Muegeln(Germany) : Police investigating a racist mob attack on 12 Indian nationals in Germany last month named one of the fleeing Indians Thursday as an additional suspect.
Witnesses had accused the 41-year-old Indian of previously wounding a German with a jagged bottle with its base broken off. Police said the Indian had refused to be questioned, exercising his right to avoid incriminating himself.
The violence, which began as a brawl between Indian and German men on a dance floor during a summer street festival, had diplomatic repercussions, with Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar voicing her concern and asking Berlin to take action so there was no repetition.
The group of Indians suffered bruises, cuts, black eyes and other injuries as they fled across a street from 50 yelling Germans and took refuge in a snack bar.
Prosecutors in the city of Leipzig said the 41-year-old had been identified from photos and was formally placed under suspicion for causing dangerous bodily harm, a step that falls short of indictment.
He had allegedly wounded a 28-year-old man attending the festival. The spokesman said he was the only Indian suspect at this point.
So far 12 local Germans are under suspicion of crimes of violence and racist assault. Prosecutors said the flare-up at the dance and the mob attack had not been planned in advance, but they were still trying to make sense of confused accounts of the clash.