Hyderabad links emerge in Bondi Beach shooter case
HYDERABAD: Telangana Director General of Police Shivadhar Reddy said Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-linked terrorist Sajid Akram, who was shot dead by police after opening fire at Australia’s Bondi Beach, had strong links to Hyderabad.
The DGP said Akram studied up to BCom in Hyderabad and had travelled to India only six times over a span of 27 years. Akram moved to Australia in 1998 in search of employment and married a European national, Venera Grosoni, the same year.
He visited Hyderabad for the first time in 1998 along with his wife. He came again in 2004 and February 2009, police said.
Akram visited the city once more in 2011 in connection with a Jubilee property settlement, and again in 2016 for another property-related settlement. In 2022, he came to Hyderabad to meet his mother and sister, the DGP said.
According to police, Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram, both alleged to have links with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, opened fire when members of the Jewish community were celebrating the Hanukkah festival at Bondi Beach.
Sixteen people were killed and 36 others injured in the attack. Sajid Akram was killed on the spot in police firing, while his son Naveed was injured, admitted to hospital and later arrested.
New South Wales Police have registered 59 criminal charges against Naveed Akram at the Bondi Beach police station limits. These include 15 counts of murder and cases related to a terrorist act.
