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A Jewish community security team passed intelligence to NSW Police about an Islamic fundamentalist network and identified Naveed Akram as a close associate years before his alleged Islamic State-inspired attack in Bondi, a leaked email suggests.
Community Security Group (CSG) named Akram and others in a July 2019 email to two NSW Police inspectors working in intervention and terrorism intelligence, raising concerns about a Bankstown street preaching group.
“Please be aware of Salafi organisation ‘Bankstown Dawah’ which maintains concerning membership and activity in Sydney,” an email from CSG to the NSW Police’s Terrorism Intelligence Unit and the senior officers reads.
“Other closely associated individuals include Naveed AKRAM.”
The CSG email went on to identify other associates of the group, including now-convicted Islamic State supporters Joseph “Youssif” Saadieh, Radwan Dakkak and Youssef Uweinat.
The email was sent to police by CSG one week after counter-terror squads arrested Dakkak alongside Isaac El Matari, a friend who was plotting to blow up landmarks in Sydney.
The Dawah group uploaded a photograph of Akram smiling alongside other members, describing him as “our new brother” on the day of the arrests.
Street Dawah Movement, as the group is now known, distanced itself from Akram following the attack. It said he was not a member, but only a “visitor”, who had passed through in 2019 as a teenager.
Dakkak eventually pleaded guilty to associating with a terrorist organisation, while Uweinat was arrested in December 2019 and ultimately convicted of advocating for a terrorist act.
Last year Uweinat was pictured waving a black flag in the Sydney Harbour Bridge march, in an image shared by controversial preacher Wissam Haddad.
Saadieh was arrested in early 2021 and jailed last year for knowingly associating with a terrorist group.
NSW Police said they were “unable to comment” when asked about the tip-off by CSG.
“The circumstances surrounding what happened at Bondi on Sunday 14 December 2025 are subject to a critical incident investigation, a criminal investigation, a coronial inquest and examination by the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion,” a spokesperson said.
“As with all criminal investigations, it is imperative that police comment and media coverage do not prejudice court proceedings.”
CSG monitor threats to the Jewish community and provide security services at schools, synagogues and public events. It issues security advice and offers training services.
Its personnel carry pistols during security duties, but they cannot carry weapons at public events such as Chanukah by the Sea.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has suggested expanding CSG’s remit to carry weapons, calling it “one effective measure we can make to ensure that the Jewish community feels safe when they go to a public event.”
But several sources close to deliberations told this masthead it was unlikely that would eventuate.
The Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) investigation would spread through the group of young men, bringing both Akram and his father onto the radar of spy agency ASIO.
ASIO ultimately cleared the Akrams as threats in 2020 because they “did not adhere to or intend to engage in violent extremism”, agency director Mike Burgess said earlier this year.
That same year, Sajid Akram applied for a gun licence to the NSW Firearms Registry.
The spy agency notified NSW Police about Akram in either 2020 or 2021 when the teenager was placed on a “known entity management list” – a register of individuals known to counter-terror teams.
The firearms registry, managed by NSW Police, granted Sajid’s gun license in 2023.
The decision has raised questions about the registry’s record keeping and access to intelligence held by police and other agencies.
The CSG tip-off was addressed to the Engagement and Intervention Unit within NSW Police, which interfaces with religious groups.
That means NSW Police held intelligence on Akram and his suspected ties to extremists outside the tightly-controlled ASIO or JCTT information channels.
Sajid Akram had lawfully acquired the rifle and shotguns used in the attack in December 2025 in which 15 people died. The 50-year-old was shot dead by police at the scene.
His son was wounded and remains in custody, awaiting trial on terrorism and murder charges.
The royal commission into antisemitism last month released its interim report touching on security lapses and the threats to the Jewish community in the lead up to the terror attack in mid-December.
The report said CSG asked NSW Police to deploy resources to keep the Chanukah By The Sea festival safe, saying “a terrorist attack against the NSW Jewish Community is likely and there is a high level of antisemitic vilification”.
However, only three uniformed officers and a supervisor were deployed from Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command, according to the royal commission’s interim report.
The UK version of CSG, The Community Security Trust, will give evidence at the royal commission on Thursday.
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