Bondi beach shooting suspect father migrated from Hyderabad to Australia 27 years ago: Telangana govt

Sajid Akram, one of the two suspected shooters in the Bondi Beach attack, was a native of Hyderabad who emigrated to Australia in 1998 and held an Indian passport, the Telangana Police has said in a statement.

The Australian government has identified two suspects in the Bondi Beach attack as 50-year-old Sajid and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said they were inspired by Islamic State’s ideology.

Sajid and Naveed on Sunday attacked a Jewish celebration of Hanukkah at Sydney's Bondi Beach in Australia’s Sydney. They killed at least 16 persons and injured 40 others. While Sajid was killed in a confrontation with the police, Naveed was taken into custody.

In a statement, the Telangana Police on Tuesday said that Sajid was originally from Hyderabad who emigrated to Australia in November 1998 in search of job. It said that he married Venera Grosso, a European woman, in Australia.

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Even as he settled permanently in Australia, Sajid continued to hold an Indian passport, the police said.

“They have one son, Naveed (one of the two attackers) and one daughter. Sajid Akram carries Indian passport as on date and his son Naveed Akram and daughter were born in Australia and are Australian citizens,” the police said in a statement.

Sajid had limited contact with his family in Hyderabad since 1998 and visited India on only six occasions, primarily for family-related reasons such as property matters and visits to his elderly parents, the statement read.

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Even as the Australian government has said Sajid was inspired by the Islamic State ideology to carry out the attack, the police said his family members in India expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities or of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation.

The police concluded that Sajid’s radicalisation does not appear to be rooted in India.

Sajid & Naveed went to Philippines’ Islamic State-affected province

Previously, Australian Police and the Philippines’ government separately said Sajid and Naveed had travelled to the Philippines earlier this year and visited a province affected by an Islamic State insurgency.

Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner for Australia’s New South Wales province, said that Sajid and Naveed had recently travelled to the Philippines, according to Guardian.

“The reasons why they went to the Philippines, and the purpose of that, and where they went when they were there, is under investigation at the moment,” Lanyon said.

Separately, the Philippines’ government confirmed their travel to the country.

Sajid and Naveed entered the Philippines on November 1 with the southern province of Davao listed as their final destination, immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval told AFP.

The province of Mindanao where Davao is located has a long history of Islamist insurgencies. In 2017, the city of Marawi witnessed a battle between government forces and Islamic State affiliates in the city of Marawi for nearly five months. The Islamic State affiliates had sieged large parts of the city and the government waged an all-out war to retake the city and flush out terrorists.

“Sajid Akram, 50, Indian national, and Naveed Akram, 24, Australian national, arrived in the Philippines together last November 1, 2025 from Sydney, Australia. Both reported Davao as their final destination. They left the country on November 28, 2025 on a connecting flight from Davao to Manila, with Sydney as their final destination,” Sandoval told AFP.