Indian police officials who ran a background check on the Bondi Beach shooters in Australia confirmed that Sajid and Naveed Akram had family in Hyderabad.
Sajid, 50, had last come to India in 2022 and had only been to his hometown, Tolichowki in Hyderabad, about 6 times in the last 27 years.
The brother of Sajid Akram told The News Minute that the family had cut ties with the older shooter after he “married a Christian woman.” He had moved to Australia in 1998. Authorities visited the family to collect details.
The brother also said that he did not visit the family when his father died in 2009 and that he did not enquire about his unwell mother, who is currently in her 80s.
Authorities have said that there is no evidence linking the shooting to India, Reuters reported. Telengana police said in a statement that the "family members have expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation."
Earlier, the Philippines’ Bureau of immigration told Australian authorities that Sajid had travelled to the country using an indian passport. His son Naveed used Australian documents. Investigators are now trying to confirm whether the two had received military style training from terror networks in the country before they headed to Bondi Beach.
16 people were killed, and 22 people were injured after Sajid and Naveed Akram opened fire at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach on Sunday.
The incident is being investigated as a terror attack, as police confirmed that the shooters were inspired by IS rhetoric. Two Islamic State flags were also found in the vehicle of the younger shooter.
Sajid died after a confrontation with the police at the scene. Authorities in Australia intend to charge Naveed, who has come out of a coma, for the attack.
