Police confirm Bondi gunman was from India’s Hyderabad
NEW DELHI: Indian police said on Tuesday that one of the gunmen in Australia’s Bondi Beach shooting, Sajid Akram, was originally from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad but had limited contact with his family in India.
The death toll in one of Australia’s worst mass shootings stands at 16, including 50-year-old Akram, who was shot by police. The man’s 24-year-old son and alleged accomplice, identified by local media as Naveed Akram, was in critical condition in hospital after also being shot.
Hyderabad is the capital of Telangana state. Australian police said both men had travelled to the Philippines last month, the father on an Indian passport and the son on an Australian one.
“The family members have expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation,” Telangana state police said in a statement.
The purpose of the trip is under investigation, officials said, adding it was not conclusive whether they were linked to any terrorist group or whether they received training in that country.
Telangana police said the factors that led to the radicalisation of the two gunmen “appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana”.
In its statement on Tuesday, Telangana police said Sajid Akram visited India on six occasions, mainly for family-related reasons, since he migrated to Australia in 1998.
There was no “adverse record” on him before he left India, the statement added.
Sajid and his son Naveed, who allegedly killed 15 people and wounded dozens of others at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, arrived on November 1 with the southern Philippine province of Davao listed as their final destination.
The father and son spent nearly the entire month of November in the Philippines, Manila’s immigration department confirmed on Tuesday, with the father entering the country as an Indian national.
“Sajid Akram, 50, Indian national, and Naveed Akram, 24, Australian national, arrived in the Philippines together last November 1, 2025 from Sydney, Australia,” immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval told AFP, adding they departed on November 28.
Australian police said on Tuesday both men had travelled to the Philippines last month and the purpose of the trip is under investigation. Philippines police have said they are investigating the matter.
Islamic State-linked networks are known to operate in the Philippines and have wielded some influence in the south of the country. They have been reduced to weakened cells operating in the southern Mindanao island in recent years, far from the scale of influence they wielded during the 2017 Marawi siege.
“Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State, allegedly committed by a father and son,” Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said at a news conference.
“These are the alleged actions of those who have aligned themselves with a terrorist organisation, not a religion.”
Police also said the vehicle which is registered to the younger male contained improvised explosive devices and two homemade flags associated with ISIS, or Islamic State, a militant group designated by Australia and many other countries as a terrorist organisation. Monitoring Desk
