Naveed Akram, the surviving Bondi Beach terrorist, came out of coma and was arrested at the bedside at a hospital in Australia. Naveed survived while his father Sajid Akram, originally from India, was shot dead by the police as the duo killed 15 civilians.
Naveed Akram, the 25-year-old Bondi Beach shooter, came out of coma, and was arrested at bedside by police in Australia, according to reports. Detectives were waiting for him to be mentally oriented to understand the procedures before moving ahead legally. Naveed, along with his father Sajid Akram, killed 15 people at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, in what is the worst terror attack on Australian soil in 30 years.
It emerged on Tuesday that Sajid Akram, 50, was originally from Hyderabad and had migrated from India in 1998. He had limited contact with his family in India and had visited the country just six times in 27 years. He married a European Christian woman with whom he had Naveed and a daughter, both born in Australia.
While Sajid Akram was killed in police counterfire, Naveed was shot and had gone into a comatose state. He emerged from coma on Tuesday afternoon (local time), according to Australian media outlets. “He regained consciousness only to find detectives waiting to arrest him at his bedside,” reported news.com.au.
News.co.au reported that as soon as Naveed regained consciousness, he was “deemed lucid” by doctors and was “entered into the custody system and placed under arrest”.
The police were waiting for the effect of medication on Naveed to wear off to arrest him so that he understood the legal procedure.
“Once he was conscious and we were at a stage where doctors could withdraw his medicine to such an extent that his doctors were satisfied he had cognitive function and was fit to understand the process we were able to caution and arrest him,” New South Wales (NSW) Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told news.com.au.
BONDI BEACH SHOOTERS KILLED 15 BEFORE BEING SHOT
The pair, armed with rifles and shotguns, fired upon hundreds of people at a Jewish Hannukah festival being held at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people and injuring 40.
Three Indian students were among those injured, according to a local media report. At least two of the injured students are believed to be receiving hospital treatment.
A Holocaust survivor and a London-born rabbi were among the 15 people killed.
The 15 victims ranged in age from 10 to 87 years old, according to New South Wales Police.
SYDNEY TERRORISTS HAD TRAVELLED TO PHILIPPINES
The father-son duo reportedly travelled to the Philippines between 1 and 28 November, the BBC reported on Tuesday, quoting officials in Manila.
Investigators are trying to probe if the two shooters behind the Sydney Bondi Beach carnage met extremist Islamic preachers and received military-style training in the Philippines last month.
“Sajid Akram, 50, travelled on an Indian passport and his son, Naveed, 24, using an Australian passport,” the BBC report quoted the officials as saying.
Family members of Sajid, who was originally from Hyderabad and had moved to Australia 27 years ago, told media outlets they had cut ties with Sajid for marrying a Christian woman.
However, according to a press release by the Telangana Police DGP, the factors that led to the radicalisation of Sajid and Naveed appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana.
