Bondi Beach Attack: Gunman Sajid Akram Identified as 50-year-old Indian National from Hyderabad

After making conspiracy-driven claims against Pakistan, India later acknowledged that the suspected gunman involved in the Bondi Beach shooting in Australia, Sajid Akram, was originally from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

A day later, after initially promoting claims linking the suspect to Pakistan, Indian police confirmed on Tuesday that the slain gunman, Sajid Akram, was originally from Hyderabad, India.

In its statement, Telangana police said that Sajid Akram completed his B.Com degree in Hyderabad, India and migrated to Australia in search of employment, approximately 27 years ago, in November 1998.

According to the Indian police, Sajid Akram married Ms. Venera Grosso, a European origin woman before settling permanently in Australia. They have one son, Naveed (one of the two attackers) and one daughter.

Sajid Akram carries an Indian passport as of date, and his son, Naveed Akram and daughter were born in Australia and are Australian citizens.

As per information available from his relatives in India, He visited India on six occasions after migrating to Australia.

Sajid Akram and his son Naveed, who allegedly killed 15 people and wounded dozens of others at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach spent nearly the entire month of November in the Philippines and had arrived there on an Indian passport on November 1.

“Sajid Akram, 50, Indian national, and Naveed Akram, 24, Australian national, arrived in the Philippines together last November 1, 2025, from Sydney, Australia,” immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval had told AFP.

The Bondi Beach shooting was a mass shooting incident that occurred on Sunday, December 14, 2025, at Archer Park, adjacent to Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.

The attack took place in the late afternoon during a public Hanukkah celebration hosted by the Chabad of Bondi, which was attended by nearly a thousand people.

Officials, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, quickly labeled the event an act of terrorism.

The incident sent shockwaves across Australia, as it was the deadliest mass shooting in the country since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.

The perpetrators were identified by police as a father and son duo, 50-year-old Sajid Akram and 24-year-old Naveed Akram.