Telangana BJP Chief Highlights Bondi Beach Attack Accused's Links To Hyderabad

The Telangana BJP chief N Ramchander Rao called the Hyderabad link to the Bondi Beach mass shooting an insult to India and a danger to national security. Rao said the case, involving an Indian passport holder accused in the Australia attack that killed 15 persons, must trigger a deeper security review within India, especially concerning links abroad.

Rao warned that the episode "reflects a dangerous trend" and urged authorities not to treat it as an isolated crime. The Telangana BJP president said such incidents could damage India's image globally and might also point to possible networks or radical influences that extend beyond borders and cities.

Hyderabad Bondi Beach shooting: BJP questions local security environment

Speaking to PTI, Rao stated, "The Hyderabad connection with the terror act, though it is a matter of insult to us, is also a serious national security concern," and repeated that the issue "reflects a dangerous trend". Rao pressed Telangana police to investigate the "circumstances and the conditions" in which the accused left India and later turned to violence overseas.

Rao added that investigators must check the background of the entire family. Rao said officers should map the social contacts and movements of the accused while in Hyderabad and abroad. Rao argued that ignoring these angles could weaken security responses linked to the Hyderabad Bondi Beach shooting and similar terror cases involving Indian-origin suspects.

Hyderabad Bondi Beach shooting: What is known about Sajid Akram

According to officials, the gunman was 50-year-old Sajid Akram, who died during a shootout with Australian police. The Philippines' Bureau of Immigration stated that Sajid had carried an Indian passport up to that point. Telangana police earlier confirmed Sajid came from Hyderabad and had migrated to Australia in 1998, several years before the Bondi Beach attack.

Investigators said Sajid and the 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram, fired rifles at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday. The gathering was described as a Jewish function. Police said Naveed was injured and was in hospital under guard, while Sajid was killed after an exchange of fire with responding officers during the Hyderabad Bondi Beach shooting incident.

Key known details from police and immigration authorities about the Hyderabad Bondi Beach shooting and suspects are listed below.

Rao drew attention to possible local links, saying, "Unfortunately, the people who are involved in it are from India and that too from Hyderabad. And I feel that Hyderabad, though they moved out of Hyderabad for 27 years, still has many sleeper cells for ISI and ISIS also,". The BJP leader suggested this angle needed a thorough check in the context of the Hyderabad Bondi Beach shooting.

Details about Sajid's relatives in India have also surfaced. An earlier HT report said Sajid's elder brother, Sahid Akram, is a doctor living in Al Hasarath Colony in Hyderabad's Tolichowki area. The report added that Sahid and other family members left their home for an undisclosed location after media coverage of the Hyderabad Bondi Beach shooting became intense.

The Philippines' Bureau of Immigration also said Sajid had travelled to the Philippines as recently as November. That visit, combined with Sajid's Indian passport status and Hyderabad roots, is likely to form part of the wider investigation. Agencies in India and abroad are now assessing how these movements may relate to the Hyderabad Bondi Beach shooting and the broader security concerns raised by Rao.