Here is what the Prime Minister said:
Journalist: Can you just confirm – there’s been a lot of misinformation flying around about the student visa that Tony Burke mentioned yesterday. Can you confirm the country of origin, whether it’s India or Pakistan? Also, how long were they in the Philippines, and was that monitored by Filipino intelligence agencies?Prime Minister: They are all part of the investigation, so I can’t go into that detail, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to undermine the investigation by going into it.
Also, the Telangana Police told the media that one gunman, Sajid Akram, was originally from Hyderabad but had limited contact with his family in India. “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.
The police said Sajid Akram completed his B.Com degree in Hyderabad and migrated to Australia for a job in November 1998. He subsequently married Venera Grosso, a European origin woman before settling permanently in Australia. They have one son, Naveed (one of the two attackers) and one daughter. Sajid Akram carries the Indian passport as on date, and his son Naveed Akram and daughter were born in Australia and are Australian citizens, the police added.
The police said that Sajid visited India on six occasions after migrating to Australia, primarily for family-related reasons such as property matters and visits to his elderly parents.
Earlier in the day, the Philippines Bureau of Immigration said the two alleged gunmen travelled to the Philippines on November 1 aboard Philippine Airlines Flight PR212 from Sydney to Manila and onward to Davao, reported Reuters.
A spokesperson for the bureau said Sajid, 50, an Indian national and Australian resident, travelled on an Indian passport, while his son Naveed, 24, an Australian national, used an Australian passport. Both arrived together on that flight.
They departed on November 28 on the same flight number, PR212, from Davao via Manila back to Sydney.
The attack on December 14 was Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years, and is being investigated as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community.
