New details have emerged about one of the suspected Bondi Beach shooters with police confirming that he was originally from southern India.
Sajid Akram, 50 who died at the scene was from the city of Hyderabad and is said to have had a limited contact with his family there.
Sajid and his 24-year-old son Naveed are suspected of carrying out the shooting at a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday, December 14.
Over 1,000 people were at Bondi Beach for what was meant to be a fun, family-friendly event with music, games and entertainment, when the shooting occurred which claimed the lives of 15 people.
This attack, which is Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in almost three decades, is being investigated as a terrorist act specifically targeting the Jewish community.
As per multiple reports, Sajid had only visited India six times since he moved to Australia in 1998 and his family said they were unaware of any "radical mindset or activities."
"It is understood that he did not travel to India even at the time of his father's demise," the Indian official said.
The officials further noted that Sajid had no criminal record in India and moved to Australia for work before marrying a European-origin woman.
Although he held an Indian passport, his children were born in Australia and are Australian citizens.
Sajid and his son, who is critically injured in the hospital after being shot had travelled to the Philippines last month with Sajid using an Indian passport and his son traveling on his Australian passport.
Authorities are still investigating the reason for the trip and so far it is unclear whether they were connected to any terrorist organization or received any training there.
