Bondi shootout: Ties with Sajid cut off, say estranged family from Hyderabad
Akram was originally from Hyderabad but had limited contact with his family in India, Telangana police said.
The Hyderabad-based family of Sajid Akram — one of the gunmen involved in the shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney that killed 15 — had limited contact with him, reports said on Tuesday, adding that ties were severed after he had married a Christian.
Akram was originally from Hyderabad but had limited contact with his family in India, Telangana police said.
Akram was an Indian national, the Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration said on Tuesday while confirming that he visited the country in November.
Dana Sandoval, a spokesperson for the Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration, said, “Sajid Akram, 50, Indian national (Australian resident), and Naveed Akram, 24, Australian national, arrived in the Philippines together last November 1, 2025 from Sydney, Australia.”
Police in India were in contact with the family of the accused in Hyderabad.
"The family members have expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation," Telangana state police said in a statement, quoted by Reuters.
The family was shocked by the news and had not been in touch with him for many years, a report by The News Minute (TNM) said, adding that Akram’s brother, who lives in Hyderabad, told the news outlet that “…Sajid had left Hyderabad for Australia more than 25 years ago and later married a Christian, after which the family cut ties with him”. The report did not name the brother.
The death toll from Sunday’s shootout stands at 16, including Akram (50), who was shot by police. The man's 24-year-old son and alleged accomplice, identified by local media as Naveed Akram, was in critical condition in hospital after also being shot.
“A source in the government said that Sajid’s father, after coming back from Saudi Arabia many years ago, bought an apartment in Hyderabad. Around this time, Sajid left for Australia in 1998 on a student visa. Indian agencies have found in a preliminary probe that Sajid came to Hyderabad a few years ago and the brothers had a fallout over property. Sajid’s other family members in Hyderabad will also be questioned,” the TNM report said.
The Australian police have said both men had travelled to the Philippines last month, the father on an Indian passport and the son was on an Australian one.
The purpose of the trip is under investigation, the Reuters report said, quoting officials, adding it was not conclusive they were linked to any terrorist group or whether they received training in that country.
Telangana police said the factors that led to the radicalisation of the two gunmen "appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana".
In its statement on Tuesday, Telangana police said Sajid Akram visited India on six occasions, mainly for family-related reasons, since he migrated to Australia in 1998.
There was no "adverse record" on him before he left India, the statement added.
