HYDERABAD: Terror suspect Sajid Akram, the 50-year-old Indian-origin man shot dead by Australian police after Sunday’s deadly attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead, had limited contact with his family in Hyderabad since moving to Australia in November 1998.According to cops, Sajid Akram did not attend his father’s funeral in Hyderabad in 2009. Telangana Police and intelligence agencies traced his roots to Al Hasnath Colony in Toli Chowki, where his father, a retired armed forces officer, and his elder brother, a doctor, live. “We are told Sajid visited India six times after migrating 27 years ago, mainly for property matters. Notably, he did not travel to India when his father passed away in 2009,” Telangana DGP Shivadhar Reddy said. The family told police they had no knowledge of when or how Sajid and his 24-year-old son Naveed, the second suspect, were allegedly radicalised.“Reports indicate that they were inspired by ISIS ideology. Factors leading to their radicalization appear to have no connection with India,” Reddy said. He also confirmed that Sajid had no adverse record in India before emigrating. Sajid graduated in commerce from Hyderabad’s Anwar-Ul-Uloom College and later married Australian Venera Grosso, with whom he had a son and daughter. Sources said he had brought his wife to Hyderabad around 2001 to meet his parents and had a traditional nikah in the city. During later visits, he sold his share of ancestral property in Sha Ali Banda. Australian authorities suspect both father and son were radicalized in Sydney. Naveed attended Arabic and religious courses in Sydney between 2019 and 2022. Media reports say the pair traveled to the Philippines in November 2025, where they may have received military-style training, before returning to Sydney. Mal Lanyon, New South Wales police commissioner, said Naveed’s vehicle contained improvised explosives and two homemade ISIS flags. Meanwhile, three Indian students were among the 40 injured in the attack, two of whom remain hospitalised.
