A GANG of thugs beat teenagers from the Nepalese community with baseball bats in a suspected racist attack.

The beatings happened in the Brighton Hill area of Basingstoke as a group of five friends were walking home after finishing work at a local restaurant.

One of the victims, a 16-year-old who does not wish to be named for fear of reprisals, said the attack was completely unprovoked and followed a torrent of racist jibes.

He said he and his friends had stopped off at Asda to get money for bus fares from a cash machine.

However, outside the store they noticed a small group of teenagers giving them “evil looks”.

As they walked away towards Quilter Road at about 9.30pm he said they were suddenly surrounded by a larger gang of about 12 youths. The youths began shouting racist abuse and several pulled out baseball bats and began hitting the Nepalese youngsters.

The victim said he was punched in the face and hit with a broken baseball bat on the leg, which left him with bruising and cuts.

He said others in the group required stitches for head injuries. The assaults took place last Monday.

His father said although he and his family, who live in the Oakridge area of Basingstoke, have been called bigoted names before, he feared the beating was a worrying development.

He said: “We don’t feel safe any more. These people have to be caught to stop it happening again. We can’t ignore this.”

The young victim, who is studying IT at Queen Mary’s College, in Basingstoke, said: “The gang just started on us.

“Now I’m scared to go out.” He said he doesn’t feel safe even if he is with a group of people.

Captain Indra Gurung, secretary of the Basingstoke Nepalese Community, who served with the 1st Royal Gurkha Rifles, called the attacks “horrible and saddening”.

He added: “The community strongly hopes the police and local authorities will do their best to bring the culprits to justice.”

Captain Gurung told The Gazette there are more than 600 people of Nepalese descent living in Basingstoke, many of whom have fathers or relatives who are current or former Gurkha soldiers in the British Army.

Chief Inspector Jill Baldry, commander of the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire Constabulary, said: “If during the course of the investigation the incident is discovered to have been a racist crime it will be dealt with accordingly to the highest possible standards.

“Safer Neighbourhoods teams across the Basingstoke district are working hard to promote community cohesion for everyone living in the area.”

Anyone with any information about the attack should call Basingstoke police station on 0845 045 4545.