Bondi Beach gunman from Hyderabad; Indian passport holder's son Australian citizen

SYDNEY: Information that Sajid Akram, the accused in the Bondi Beach shooting case in Sydney that left 14 people dead, is an Indian. He is a native of Hyderabad. Sajid Akram immigrated to Australia on a student visa in November 1998. He passed his B.Com from Hyderabad. Sajid Akram, after moving to Australia, married a European-born woman named Venera Grosso and became a permanent resident. They have two children. One of them is another accused, Naveed Akram (24). He was born in Australia and is therefore an Australian citizen. 15 people were killed in the shooting. Sajid Akram (50) died after being shot by police immediately after the incident. Naveed was shot and is in critical condition in the hospital. It has been confirmed that both had visited the Philippines last month.

Family members say they are not aware of the accused's extremist views. Relatives in Telangana are also unaware. Sajid Akram currently holds an Indian passport. Sajid has visited India very few times in the past 27 years. He has visited India six times. The last time was in 2022. He only visited his hometown to meet his parents, for property matters and for some family functions. However, he did not visit India when his father died.

He had no prior criminal record or history before he went to Australia on a student visa. Sajid and Naveed believed in the ideology of ISIS. However, police and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have stated that they did not carry out the attack on behalf of a large terrorist cell, but rather were acting voluntarily, inspired by terrorist ideology.

ISIS flags were found in the suspects' car at the scene. The explosive device in the same car was defused by the police. The Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) had investigated Naveed in 2019 for his close links to a Sydney-based ISIS cell. However, investigators did not find any indications that he posed a threat at the time.

The shooting occurred at 6:47 p.m. local time on Sunday, targeting people gathered on the beach as part of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. 43 people were injured. There have been several attacks targeting Jews in Australia since the Gaza war began. The shooting came amid criticism that the Australian government is not taking action to prevent this. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who strongly condemned the attack, had sharply criticized the Australian government. An Israeli citizen was among the dead.