ASIO’s darkish warning to cops about accused terror suspect’s ISIS community of extremists – however his father STILL acquired a gun licence
Suspected Bondi Beach gunman Naveed Akram was interviewed by anti-terrorism police just two years before his father Sajid was granted a gun licence.
It was revealed on Wednesday that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) placed Naveed on its ‘known entity management list’ in 2021.
ASIO’s interest in the alleged gunman dates back to July 2019, when police foiled an IS terror plot in Sydney and arrested Isaak El Matari, identified as an IS operative and self-declared Australian commander of the group.
The agency monitored and interviewed the 24-year-old, with a state security source telling The Sydney Morning Herald it then informed its NSW counterparts.
In 2020, ASIO determined Akram did not pose an ongoing risk that justified further monitoring. Three years later, Sajid was granted a gun licence in 2023.
It’s understood detectives interviewed Akram following his interactions with ASIO, and likewise decided that no further monitoring or investigation was necessary.
‘That is not to say that there will not be areas of improvement or mistakes that have been made,’ the source said.
Another individual added that ‘police or ASIO can’t engage in endless saturation surveillance in the absence of evidence’.
Suspected Bondi Beach gunman Naveed Akram (pictured) was interviewed by anti-terrorism police years before he allegedly opened fire at a Jewish celebration at Bondi
A crumpled IS flag is seen in the windshield of a silver hatchback allegedly used by the Akrams
In 2020, ASIO determined Akram did not pose an ongoing risk that justified further monitoring. Three years later, his father, Sajid, (pictured) was granted a gun licence
‘With (Naveed), two agencies assessed he did not pose an ongoing risk, and we didn’t hear of him for half a decade,’ they said.
Daily Mail has contacted NSW Police for comment.
Akram is understood to have maintained close connections with El Matari and members of the IS cell, several of whom have since been convicted of terrorism offences.
In the last few days, authorities have said they are probing Akram and Sajid’s alleged links to Islamic extremism after explosives and homemade IS flags were found in a car registered to Naveed at the scene.
Sajid, a licensed firearms holder, had opened fire at at a Hanukkah by the Sea event Bondi Beach on Sunday and was shot dead by police.
The pair allegedly filmed an ISIS-style propaganda video at their rented Campsie Airbnb before the deadly shooting, expressing extremist views.
Another key line of inquiry is their one-month trip to the Philippines in November, which authorities are still investigating.
The pair’s final destination was the southern city of Davao, capital of the island Mindanao, which has been a hotbed for Islamic militants for decades – particularly since ISIS was defeated in Syria in 2019.
Police are seen outside an Airbnb in Campsie, allegedly used by the suspected Bondi gunmen
Flowers are seen at Bondi Beach after 15 people died in a horror mass shooting on Sunday
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese admitted on Wednesday that there were ‘real issues’ with intelligence and policing services in Australia.
‘We need to examine exactly the way that systems work,’ he told ABC News.
‘We need to look back at what happened in 2019 when this person was looked at, the assessment that was made.
‘We need to look at the way the Commonwealth and state agencies interact and we need to make any adjustments that are necessary to the way that our intelligence, security agencies, police agencies, all interact with each other.’
The security sources speaking to the Herald also took aim at Australia’s firearms monitoring systems, claiming they are outdated and hampered by bureaucracy.
Their criticism follows revelations that Sajid Akram was granted a firearms licence in 2023, four years after his son was first investigated by ASIO.
Akram legally owned six firearms, some of which were used in the massacre.
Critics of the firearms system came from officials involved in the incomplete National Firearms Registry run by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
Police are seen removing police tape from Bondi Beach on Wednesday
The system aims to centralise and digitise data and intelligence about gun owners, but critics say it has been plagued by internal problems and poor buy-in from some states and territories, including those with antiquated gun licence records.
Following the massacre, federal, state and territory leaders have begun pursuing urgent reforms to firearm legislation.
‘The very nature of our gun laws means that they are only as strong as the weakest link,’ Albanese said earlier this week.
He said the government will consider limiting the number and type of guns individuals can own, requiring citizenship for gun ownership, and accelerating work on the National Firearms Register.
