One of the two Bondi Beach shooters was originally from India, police have confirmed.
Sajid Akram, 50, who was killed by police during the shooting at a Hanukkah event in Sydney on Sunday, had moved to Australia in 1998 and maintained “limited contact” with his family back in the southern Indian state of Telangana.
He had returned six times since migrating, mainly to deal with “property matters and visits to his elderly parents”, a Telangana police official said. He did not return for his father’s funeral.
Akram’s relatives had “expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation”, the Telangana police official told the BBC.
“The factors that led to the radicalisation of Sajid Akram,” the police said in a statement, “appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana.”
Akram had no criminal record before leaving India. He had obtained a degree in commerce before moving overseas in search of work but continued to hold his Indian passport, the police said.
He married a woman in Australia described as being of European origin and had two children, both Australian citizens.
Authorities said Akram carried out the attack along with his son, Naveed Akram, 24. The son survived after being shot by police, was hospitalised in a coma but regained consciousness on Tuesday.
New South Wales police commissioner Mal Lanyon said investigators were preparing to formally question him. “We have undertaken custody procedures with him while he was in hospital. Our investigators had to wait for the effects of medication to wear off and for him to obtain a legal adviser,” Mr Lanyon told ABC radio.
“We expect to speak to him today.”
Prime minister Anthony Albanese said he expected Naveed Akram to be charged “over the coming hours”.
Australian authorities earlier said the father and son had spent almost all of November in the Philippines. Their trip was confirmed by Philippine authorities after ABC cited security sources as saying the attackers could have travelled there for “military-style training”.
Sajid Akram had gone to the Philippines on his Indian passport, officials said. The duo had given Davao as their destination upon arrival, Dana Sandoval, a spokesperson for Australia’s immigration bureau, said.
Mr Albanese had earlier attributed the attack that killed 15 people to extremist beliefs. “It would appear that this was motivated by Islamic State ideology,” he told the ABC.
Australian media reported that Naveed Akram had previously come to the attention of authorities over alleged links to an Islamic State cell in Sydney.
Mr Albanese confirmed the younger man was flagged in 2019, but said an “assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence”.
New South Wales premier Chris Minns said that parliament would be brought back next week to fast-track new firearms legislation following the attack.
Police have stepped up security at funerals and memorials across Sydney, with officers coming out in force as members of the Jewish community gathered to mourn.
