Detective Sergeant Tim Tucker said Indian students were soft targets.

"They don't provoke anyone and are usually pretty quiet, but it is not just Indian men being robbed, it is happening to a lot of people," he said.

He did not believe the attack in City Place, Sunshine, was race-related.

"It seems like a random attack - a terrible one and we are investigating it thoroughly."

He said police were looking at video footage from inside the supermarket. Detective Sergeant Tucker said Embona squad members would double in number by January and would work with the community to combat violence.

"We are working with places like Victoria University, which caters for a lot of international students, to teach them to keep themselves safe."

He recommended Indian students walk home in groups of more than three, avoid poorly lit streets and refrain from carrying iPods.

One 20-year-old student at the gathering spoke of his experience on his way home from Sunshine railway station about three months ago.

"I was walking home at night and a couple of guys bashed me over the head and stole my iPod. I reported it to the police and they said the best advice they could give would be for me to buy a car," he said.

"I can't do that. I don't have the money. I am always scared walking home, but I have no choice."