With fresh details emerging about the Bondi Beach attacker, Sajid Akram, it has come to light that he was from South Asia and had moved to Australia nearly three decades ago.
Being investigated as an act of terrorism, the attack, which targeted the Jewish community, was the worst mass shooting in Australia in around 30 years.
The death toll from the shooting has reached 16, Reuters reported, including 50-year-old Akram. His 24-year-old son, the alleged accomplice, was also shot during the incident and remains in critical condition in the hospital.
Indian police have revealed that Akram hailed from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, the capital of the Telangana state.
In its statement on Tuesday, Telangana police said Sajid Akram visited India on six occasions, mainly for family-related reasons, since he migrated to Australia in 1998.
“The family members have expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation,” Telangana state police said in a statement.
Australian police said both men had travelled to the Philippines last month, the father on an Indian passport and the son on an Australian one.
The purpose of the trip is under investigation, officials said, adding it was not conclusive whether they were linked to any terrorist group or whether they received training in that country.
