Police say Bondi Beach gunman was from India

One of the two men suspected of carrying out a mass shooting at Bondi Beach is from southern India but has “limited contact” with family there, police sources said.

A police officer in the Indian state of Telangana said Sajid Akram, who died at the scene in Sydney on Sunday, was from the city of Hyderabad.

The official added that he had only been to India six times since moving to Australia in 1998 and that his family “expressed no knowledge of his radical mentality or activities”.

Sajid, 50, and his son Navid, 24, are suspected of killing 15 people and injuring dozens more during Sunday’s celebration of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

Hyderabad, the seat of the Sajid Akram family, is the capital of the southern Indian state of Telangana.

Telangana police officials told BBC Telugu that Sajid “visited India six times after migrating to Australia, mostly for family-related reasons such as property issues and to visit his elderly parents”.

“It is understood that even when his father passed away, he did not travel to India,” the official said.

“The factors that led to the radicalization of Sajid Akram and his son Navid do not appear to be related to any local influence in India or Telangana.”

The official also said Sajid Akram had no criminal record in India, had completed his degree and moved to Australia to find work before marrying a woman of “European origin”.

The official added that Sajid Akram holds an Indian passport but his child was born in Australia and is an Australian citizen.

Police are currently investigating why the father and son traveled to the Philippines weeks before the attack. The country’s immigration office confirmed to the BBC that they arrived on November 1 and left on November 28.

Authorities said Sajid traveled using an Indian passport while his son used an Australian identity card.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) cited security sources as saying the pair traveled to the island nation for “military-style training”, but officials have not confirmed those reports.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Minister Maria Theresa Lazaro and Australian Foreign Minister Angel Wong have agreed to “keep each other closely informed” of any developments related to the investigation into the Bondi Beach shooting, according to text messages Lazaro sent to the media.

Navid Akram had previously been investigated for his ties to the Islamic State terror group in Sydney, the ABC reported.

IS is an extremist Islamic armed group that has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks in Europe and the Americas, including the 2015 Paris attacks.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Navid Akram first came to the attention of authorities in 2019 “because of his contacts with others”.

However, “assessments at the time indicated that there was no indication that he was subject to any ongoing threats or threats to engage in violence”.