Slain Australia beach shooting suspect native of Hyderabad: T'gana police
Hyderabad/Melbourne (PTI): Sajid Akram, the 50-year-old slain suspect in a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia, was an Indian citizen hailing from Hyderabad, Telangana Police revealed on Tuesday.
While he had migrated to Australia 27 years ago, Akram carried an Indian passport. Akram, along with his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, recently travelled to the Philippines on an Indian passport.
Akram, one of the two suspects in the mass shooting that has left 15 people dead and dozens injured, migrated to Australia in 1998 and had limited contact with his family here since then, the Telangana DGP's office said in a statement.
"Sajid Akram (50) is originally from Hyderabad, India. He completed his B.Com degree in Hyderabad and migrated to Australia in search of employment, approximately 27 years ago, in November 1998," it said.
ALSO READ: BJP accuses Karnataka govt of 'failing' to prevent noise pollution caused by 'azaan'
He married a European-origin woman before settling permanently in Australia. The couple have one son, Naveed (the second suspect who is in custody at a hospital in Australia) and one daughter, it said.
Naveed and Akram's daughter were born in Australia and are citizens of that country, the statement said.
On Tuesday, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett described the mass shooting as "a terrorist attack inspired by the Islamic State."
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.
The Telangana police said Akram visited India on six occasions after migrating to Australia, primarily for family-related reasons such as property matters and to meet his elderly parents.
It is understood that he did not travel to India even at the time of his father's demise, the statement said.
The family members have further expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation, police said.
"The factors that led to the radicalisation of Sajid Akram and his son, Naveed, appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana," Telangana police said.
Telangana Police further said it has no adverse record against Akram during his stay in India before his departure in 1998.
The state police said it remains committed to cooperating with central agencies and other counterparts, as and when required, and urged the public and media to avoid speculation or attribution without verified facts.
Quoting security sources, Australia's ABC News reported that Akram and Naveed travelled to the Philippines to receive "military-style training".
"Investigators are now examining the Akrams' ties to an international jihadist network, after discovering the pair travelled to Manila in early November," it said, quoting officials briefed on the investigation.
The Philippines Bureau of Immigration confirmed the pair arrived in the Philippines from Australia on November 1, declaring the southern city of Davao - a hotbed for Islamic militants since the 1990s - as their destination, it said.
"They left the country on November 28, 2025, on a connecting flight from Davao to Manila, with Sydney as their final destination," ABC News quoted the Philippines' Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval as saying.
Sandoval said Akram entered the country on an Indian passport, while his son, Naveed, entered on an Australian passport.
In the Philippines, Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office and Press Officer for Malacanang Palace Claire Castro said that the National Security Council (NSC) is currently looking into reports that the father and son duo travelled to the country a month before the attack.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
''NDA''s betrayal includes strangling MSMEs'' amid West Asia crisis, alleges Stalin at poll rally
Erode (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): DMK President, Chief Minister M K Stalin, on Thursday, alleged that the NDA's betrayals include 'strangling' the MSMEs during the ongoing West Asia crisis.
Addressing an election rally here, Stalin alleged AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami had no achievements to claim for his government during 2017-21; neither does PM Modi, who comes on "election tours" to Tamil Nadu.
Ridiculing the slow pace of work to build Madurai AIIMS, as that project was announced by the Centre about a decade ago, the CM said: "If they think they can claim an achievement, let them look at the Madurai AIIMS, being built brick by brick, one brick after the other. That is an achievement." Other than the "achievement" of building AIIMS for about 10 years, they had nothing to boast about at all, he sarcastically said.
"We have a list of their betrayals (of NDA). Shall I list them?" Stalin asked, and alleged that the denial to scrap NEET and declining of new Metro rail projects were betrayals. "Abolishing" MGNREGA, amending the Citizenship Act, and the enactment of 3-farm laws --which were later scrapped-- were also "betrayals," he said.
ALSO READ: Woman techie dies by suicide in Hyderabad over 'dowry harassment'
He also listed other alleged "betrayals" of "failure to protect weavers" from US tariffs and crippling micro, small, and medium enterprises due to the West Asian war.
The Dravidian party chief, however, did not elaborate on either the weavers vis-à-vis the US tariff issue or the matter involving MSMEs.
Furthermore, the DMK chief slammed the "betrayal" of withholding education funds due to children in order to impose Hindi, not providing GST compensation and snatching away state rights.
Hence, Palaniswami and his party's ally BJP, are the very embodiment of "betrayals" and the NDA allies "stand in the dock" before the people of Tamil Nadu, having committed "betrayal after betrayal," Stalin claimed.
Hitting out at AIADMK chief for targeting the DMK regime over women's safety, at his Sivaganga rally on April 1, 2026, Stalin listed a slew of ongoing welfare schemes for the benefit of women, including fare-free bus and Rights payout of Rs 1,000 per month.
He said that law and order maintenance was good in Tamil Nadu, and women go for work boldly as they are safe, while industries troop to Tamil Nadu with investment. The efficiency of a government is measured by how swiftly action is taken, and criminals are punished when a crime occurs. From that perspective, it is under the Dravidian model government that charge sheets have been filed within 60 days in over 86 per cent of cases, the chief minister asserted.
The CM said: "This growth of Tamil Nadu irritates Palaniswami, the branch secretary of the BJP. Out of jealousy, he is spreading lies and rumours as the DMK does not allow him to win even one election."
He asked if Palaniswami had any locus standi to speak about women's safety and listed crimes against women reported during the AIADMK regime, including the sensational Pollachi sexual assault case and the sufferings of the victims.
"Did that outcry of Pollachi victims not shake Palaniswami's conscience? What kind of dramas did Palaniswami stage in the Pollachi case? First, he delayed filing the case... then, they let the accused escape. They publicly revealed the names of the victimised women and issued threats. However, it is the Dravidian model of governance that handled that case properly, secured life sentences for the criminals, and obtained a compensation of Rs 85 lakh for the victims," Stalin said.
The CM also listed cases, including one in which a woman police SP was the victim at the hands of a higher police official and the manner in which the conviction was secured. In fact, the CM said there was a long history of crimes against women during successive AIADMK regimes and the mega list includes the burning of three girl students in a bus in Dharmapuri and the acid attack on a woman IAS officer. It was the DMK regime that enacted laws/ amendments to ensure upto death penalty for crimes against women.
"Women's safety was a question mark under Palaniswami's rule. It is the Dravidian model government that protects women, enables them to go to colleges and workplaces with dignity, and stands as a true friend. Thinking that all these facts can be hidden by spreading fake news and slander, Palaniswami is now wandering in a fantasy castle, dreaming of bringing the BJP's NDA government to TN and plundering the state," the DMK chief alleged.
"While the DMK-led alliance was firmly bonded by ideology, the NDA was not so," Stalin said. He also alleged that in 2016, Amit Shah had termed the AIADMK cabinet as full of corrupt leaders.
The same corrupt group now stands with Amit Shah, the CM alleged.
Beginning with Palaniswami, who allegedly awarded tenders to a relative --Sambandhi-- about a dozen AIADMK ministers were involved in alleged scams like illegal sale of gutka and irregularities in award of tenders for local bodies, Stalin claimed.
Without directly naming NDA partners, AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran (for an alleged bribe several years ago to influence the Election Commission) and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss (alleged irregularities involving medical college admissions), Stalin said such people, "who should be in the dock, have come together to deceive the people". He ridiculed NDA's double engine mantra, termed it as 'dabba engine' and asserted that NDA will be routed in the Assembly polls.
