More than 24 hours after Mounties in Richmond, B.C. asked for the public's help in solving an alleged hate crime, they say it may not have happened after all.

A 17-year-old Indo-Canadian claimed he had been attacked in a park, his turban removed and his hair cut off. He apparently suffered minor injuries.

Police have received no tips about the attack, which allegedly happened on a sunny day in a park. The boy says his attackers were several white men in their 20s who had been playing basketball.

The case is similar to one that happened a few years ago in Surrey. An 18-year-old Indo-Canadian claimed that a group of skinheads attacked him and cut his hair off. The truth was, he didn't want long hair anymore.

In that case, no witnesses could be found, and RCMP soon realized the truth. Now, Richmond RCMP admit they're investigating whether this story was fabricated and whether the teen's injuries were self-inflicted.

"We're looking at it closer," Richmond RCMP officer Peter Thiessen said. "That's part of why it took us from last week to now to come forward. We wanted to make sure the information we're getting is factual."

But why would a young Sikh go to such lengths just to have short hair? According to community activist Shinder Purewal, the explanation can boiled down to peer pressure.

"In this society, there's a lot of pressure to conform to what is normal, and normal is not a baptized Sikh."

With files from CTV's Rob Brown