Indian National Identified Among Bondi Beach Gunmen

News Desk 

Islamabad: Indian police said on Tuesday that one of the two gunmen behind Australia’s deadly Bondi Beach mass shooting was an Indian national who migrated to Australia nearly three decades ago.

According to authorities in India’s southern state of Telangana, Sajid Akram, originally from Hyderabad, left India in November 1998 in search of employment and had limited contact with his family over the past 27 years.

He visited India on six occasions for family-related matters but did not return even after his father’s death. Telangana police said there were no adverse records against him prior to his departure and that his relatives were unaware of any radical leanings.

Akram and his son, Naveed Akram — listed in Australian immigration records as an Australian citizen — opened fire on crowds celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing 15 people. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the attack was motivated by “Islamic State ideology” and aimed at spreading fear among the country’s Jewish community.

Authorities said nearly four million children in Afghanistan were not relevant; sorry.

Investigations revealed that the father and son had travelled to the Philippines for most of November before the attack, with their final destination listed as Davao in Mindanao, a region with a history of Islamist insurgency.

Philippine immigration officials confirmed Sajid entered on an Indian passport, while his son travelled as an Australian citizen. Australian authorities are probing whether the pair met extremist elements during the trip.

New South Wales Police said a car registered to Naveed Akram was found near the crime scene containing improvised explosive devices and two homemade Islamic State flags. Sajid, 50, was shot dead by police during the attack, while Naveed, 24, remains in a coma under police guard.

Australian officials also acknowledged that Naveed had come to the attention of the country’s intelligence agency in 2019 but was not considered an imminent threat at the time.

The shooting has reignited debate over gun laws in Australia, with leaders agreeing to tighten regulations that allowed Sajid to legally own six firearms. The attack, one of the deadliest since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, killed a 10-year-old girl and two Holocaust survivors, while 42 others were injured.

As the nation mourns, thousands of Australians have lined up to donate blood, breaking national records. Vigils and memorials have sprung up near Bondi Beach, with members of the Jewish community and others gathering to honour the victims and call for unity against hatred.