Melbourne, Feb 24 (IANS) A teenager may be a key witness in the murder of Indian Nitin Garg here as he saw a number of men fighting in a park where Garg was fatally stabbed last month, the police said Wednesday.

Garg was viciously stabbed Jan 2 as he walked to work. He staggered to Hungry Jack's, where he worked, before collapsing. His killing triggered strong protests in India over the safety of Indians studying in Australia.

Police Wednesday appealed to the teenaged witness to come forward, as he reportedly saw an attack in Cruickshank Park reserve on the night Garg was murdered.

Detective Inspector Steve Clark said they had learned of the witness in the past week, and the lead was considered 'to be quite integral to our investigation', The Age reported.

'I'd urge you to ring police. We're only ever one step away from solving a murder and you may have the missing piece of the puzzle that we're after.'

'All we know is he's a young male, a regular patron of Hungry Jack's. We haven't spoken to him, the information has come to us third-hand but clearly we are very, very keen to speak to him,' Clark was quoted as saying.