This screenshot made from UGC handout video footage courtesy of Timothy Brant-Coles shows two gunmen dressed in black firing multiple shots on a bridge at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Two days after two gunmen shot dead 15 people at Hanukkah celebrations on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, the Telangana Police said that the shooters have been identified as Sajid Akram, 50, and his son, Naveed Akram, 24.
In a statement issued on Tuesday (December 16, 2025), a police official said that Sajid Akram, originally from Hyderabad, migrated to Australia in November 1998 in search of employment. He completed his B. Com degree in Hyderabad before moving abroad. He later married a woman of European origin and settled permanently in Australia. The couple has two children, Naveed and a daughter, both born in Australia, and holding Australian citizenship.
The police quoted his relatives in India as saying that Sajid Akram maintained limited contact with his family over the past 27 years and visited India only six times, mainly for family-related matters such as property issues or to see his elderly parents. He was not in India even at the time of his father’s demise.
“Reports indicate that they were inspired by ISIS ideology. The family members expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor circumstances that led to his radicalisation,” the statement read.
The police clarified that there is no connection between the radicalisation of the father-son duo in India or Telangana, and that Sajid Akram had no adverse record with Telangana Police prior to his migration.
The State police have emphasised their commitment to cooperate with central and international agencies and urged people and media to avoid speculation or unverified attribution regarding the incident.
Published – December 16, 2025 06:48 pm IST
