The Sikh community is enraged after a CityRail staff member had his turban ripped from his head by a hoon.

The incident occurred late last month at Seven Hills, when Inderjeet Singh Dhaliwal was riding a night bus service from his Westmead home to work at Blacktown railway station.

The situation worsened after Blacktown police officers following Mr Dhaliwal's complaint classed it as a theft, not an assault.

Mr Dhaliwal said that if this had happened outside Australia, the youth could have been killed for his crime.

Mr Dhaliwal, a guard trainer, said his turban was removed by a young Caucasian male as the bus approached Seven Hills.

He said that he asked the driver to stop the bus and called the police, who he said arrived about an hour later.

''I consider it a very serious crime,'' Mr Dhaliwal said.

''Police asked me for the value of my turban. It's not the cost that I am worried about, but the attack on my religious belief,'' he said. ''Police officers must be educated on this to avoid a racial clash in our community.''

Moninder Singh, a spokesman for the Punjabi Council of Australia, criticised the police for treating the incident so lightly.

''Such assault cases on turbaned Sikhs are becoming common. We appeal to the police to act to deter more assaults on innocent citizens,'' he said.

Dr Parmjit Singh, a spokesman for the Sikh Association of Australia, said the group had asked Police Commissioner Ken Moroney to get Blacktown police to reclassify the case and bring the culprits to justice.

Blacktown acting crime manager, Inspector Shaun Edwards, said the case was initially classified a theft case pending further investigation.

He said the case had been upgraded to assault and theft and that another charge of robbery could be added.

Inspector Edwards appealed to the offender to surrender. He said police could use the CCTV in the bus to identify him. [Link]