Bondi Beach Horror: One Of The Two Attackers Was Indian Passport Holder, Say Officials

One of the two suspected gunmen who killed 15 people in a terror attack in Australia's Sydney was an Indian passport holder, officials told NDTV on Tuesday.

Sajid Akram, 50, who was shot down by the Australian police following the attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach, was originally from Hyderabad, Telangana police officials reportedly said.

Akram retained his Indian passport, despite living in Australia for nearly the last three decades, the police officials added, according to the report.

This confirmation comes at a time when Australian investigators are conducting a thorough probe into the Bondi Beach attack. The assault was carried out by the accused duo of Sajid and his son Naveed on Sunday, during the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah. More than a dozen persons were left injured in the attack.

India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar offered the country's "fullest support" and expressed the nation's "deepest condolences" to his Australian counterpart Penny Wong via phone call on Monday.

"Just spoke to Australian Foreign Minister @SenatorWong. Conveyed our deepest condolences about the Bondi Beach terrorist attack and offered our fullest support," Jaishankar said in a social media post.

Jaishankar had also condemned the attack shortly after it took place."We condemn in the strongest terms the terror attack on Hanukkah celebrations in Bondi Beach," he said, hours after reports of the incident came out. "Our thoughts are with the victims and their families," he added.

Notably, one of the gunmen was stopped by a "hero" bystander Ahmed Al Ahmed, an Australian shopkeeper and former law enforcement officer, according to reports.

Ahmed was caught on video approaching one of the attackers—likely to have been Naveed—and tackled him from behind, wresting his rifle away from him. He suffered bullet wounds to his hands and arms in his efforts and was admitted to the hospital shortly thereafter.