Slain Aussie shooting suspect renewed his Indian passport from Sydney in 2022

Hyderabad, Dec 17 (PTI) Sajid Akram, the slain suspect in the recent mass shooting at Bondi beach in Australia, a native of Hyderabad, renewed his Indian passport in 2022 from Sydney, Telangana Intelligence sources said on Wednesday.

Akram (50) brought his European origin wife to the city in 2001 for a 'nikah' ceremony and later his son Naveed, another suspect in the shooting, to introduce him to his parents, they said.

The 24-year-old Naveed visited Hyderabad twice. First in 2004 and again in 2016, they added.

"Akram, who migrated to Australia in 1998, had limited contact with his family here. He carried an Indian passport, which he renewed in 2022 from Sydney," the sources told PTI.

They said Akram had applied for Australian citizenship, but it was getting delayed for some reason.

"He always wanted to get Australian citizenship and settle down there. But somehow his citizenship was not getting cleared," they said.

The Telangana police had said Akram visited India after migrating to Australia, primarily for family-related reasons such as property matters and to meet his elderly parents.

Between 2001 and 2022, he visited India on six occasions and the last time he visited was in 2022, the sources said.

"He had married a European-origin woman in Australia. He had brought her to Hyderabad to introduce her to his parents in 2001 and a nikah was performed here," the sources said.

The relatives and family members of Akram, who stay in the city, cooperated with the investigators from Telangana police and the central intelligence agencies during their questioning and told them about Akram's visits to Hyderabad, they said.

"They (Akram's family and relatives in Hyderabad) said they were shocked and that they had nothing to do with this (Akram's acts)," the sources said.

Fifteen people were killed during a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach in a mass shooting on December 14.

The shooting was "a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State," Australia's federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said on Tuesday.

According to Australian authorities, the suspects were a father and son, aged 50 and 24. The older man, who was identified as Sajid Akram, was shot dead. His son was being treated at a hospital. PTI VVK GDK VVK KH