Bondi striker Sajid Akram ‘was from Hyderabad, India’

• Sajid Akram moved to Australia in 1998, Indian authorities say.
• Akram visited India for the last time in 2022, Indian officials say.
• His son, Naveed, the second striker, was born in Australia in 2001.
  

One of the two gunmen involved in the Bodhi Beach shooting that left at least 15 dead during a Jewish gathering in Australia on December 14 was from Hyderabad, according to Indian government officials. The Hindu was mentioned.

Indian authorities shared details of the gunman, Sajid Akram, 50, who is now dead, after a background check, according to the report.

According to Indian officials, Sajid, a resident of Tolichowki in Indian Hyderabad, moved to Australia in 1998 on a student visa and had returned to India only “two-three times” since relocating.

He last visited India in 2022.

“His father died in 2017; he didn’t even come to attend his last rites,” a senior government official said.

According to another official, Sajid’s immediate family continues to live in Hyderabad and his elder brother is a doctor.

Sajid’s son Naveed, 24, the second attacker, was born in Australia in 2001 and holds Australian citizenship. He was also shot by police during the Bondi Beach massacre and is currently in hospital.

“After completing degrees in commerce from Hyderabad, Sajid moved to Australia and married a European woman. He retained his Indian passport,” the official said.

Responding to questions about possible domestic links, the official said: “Preliminary investigation does not show any local links so far. We do not have access to his activities in Australia. His background was checked based on information from our sources.”

They also cited sources The Hindu that Australian authorities are in “contact” with Indian officials as the investigation continues.

When asked if Sajid was of Indian origin, as suggested in reports, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the matter was still under investigation.

“So I can’t go into that detail and it wouldn’t be appropriate to undermine the investigation by going into it,” Albanese told reporters on Tuesday.

Bondi suspect arrived in Philippines as ‘Indian’

Earlier, Philippine authorities also said Sajid was an Indian national, citing the gunman’s travel documents.

Sajid Akram and his son Naveed entered the country on November 1 with the southern province of Davao listed as their final destination, the Philippine immigration office said.

The father and son spent almost the entire month of November in the Philippines, authorities in Manila confirmed, with the father entering as an “Indian national”.

“Sajid Akram, 50, an Indian national, and Naveed Akram, 24, an Australian national, arrived in the Philippines together last November 2025 from Sydney, Australia,” said immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval. AFP.

“Both listed Davao as their final destination. They left the country on November 28, 2025 on a connecting flight from Davao to Manila, with final destination Sydney.”

Police and military sources had earlier told reporters that they were still in the process of confirming the duo’s presence in the country.

“Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by Daesh, allegedly carried out by a father and son,” Australian Federal Police Commissioner Chrissy Barrett told a news conference.

“These are the alleged actions of those aligned with a terrorist organization, not a religion.”

Police also said the vehicle registered to the young man contained improvised explosive devices and two improvised flags associated with ISIS, or Daesh, a militant group designated as a terrorist organization by Australia and several other countries.

Videos have emerged of the youngest shooter preaching the religion outside train stations in suburban Sydney. Authorities are still trying to piece together how he followed the path of violence.

Sunday’s attack was Australia’s worst mass killing in nearly 30 years and is being investigated as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community.

The death toll stands at 16, including Sajid, who was shot dead by police on the spot. The man’s 24-year-old son and alleged accomplice, Naveed, was in critical condition in hospital after also being shot.

The 15 victims ranged from a rabbi who was a father of five, to a Holocaust survivor, to a 10-year-old girl named Matilda Britvan, according to interviews, officials and media reports. Two police officers remained in a critical but stable condition in hospital, NSW Police said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that the two men had likely been radicalized by the “ideology of Daesh”.

Davao is a large urban center located on the eastern side of Mindanao, the largest southern island of the Philippines. Armed groups are known to operate in economically disadvantaged areas of central and southwestern Mindanao.

The Philippine military, however, said it was unable to immediately verify claims that the two men had received “military-style training” during their stay in the country, despite earlier reports suggesting otherwise.

Mindanao also has a long history of rebellions against the rule of the central government.

Daesh Maute and Abu Sayyaf fighters — including foreign and local fighters — held Marawi, Mindanao, under siege in 2017.

The Philippine military destroyed the devastated city after a five-month battle that claimed more than 1,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

While rebel activity in Mindanao has declined significantly in recent years, the Philippine military continues to hunt down leaders of groups considered “terrorists.”

A spokesman for the army’s Mindanao-based 6th Infantry Division told AFP on Tuesday that they had not heard anything in recent years about Daesh-linked training camps or foreigners training with local rebels.