A man resembling Bondi gunman Naveed Akram has been captured on CCTV in Davao in mid-November, as authorities continue to investigate the movements of him and his father, Sajid Akram, in the lead-up to the attack.
In a video obtained exclusively by the ABC, a man resembling the 24-year-old is seen walking down a Davao street on November 11, just before 5am, local time.
The CCTV was filmed near a hotel where staff say the pair stayed from November 1 to November 28.
The man in the video has his head down and appears to be looking at his phone while walking.
Two hotel staff members who viewed the CCTV footage told the ABC they were confident the man in the video was Naveed Akram.
The man in the vision was seen walking close to the GV Hotel. (Supplied)
They said the man in the video was dressed the same way Naveed Akram generally was when he would leave the hotel: in a T-shirt, shorts and thongs.
They also said the man in the video had the same haircut and facial hair as Naveed Akram when he was staying at the hotel.
In addition, the hotel staff said the man’s gait matched Naveed Akram’s, as well as his build.
Several hours after ABC News obtained the CCTV, local plain-clothed police visited the business and copied the footage.
Gunmen spent four weeks holed up in hotel room: staff
The development comes a day after staff at GV Hotel in Davao, on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao, said Naveed and Sajid Akram stayed in the hotel for four weeks in November.
Immigration officials have confirmed the gunmen flew to Davao on November 1 and departed on November 28.
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Officers from the Philippines military bomb squad unit briefly swept the GV Hotel on Friday.
Four members of the Armed Forces Philippines (AFP), along with a sniffer dog, walked through several floors of the building in Davao.
They were there for 10 minutes before leaving.
The Philippines Army Bomb Squad searched the GV Hotel on Friday. (ABC News: Haidarr Jones)
Military personnel, along with police, were seen routinely driving down the street past the hotel for most of the day on Friday.
The ABC has seen logs from the hotel showing the check-in and check-out dates under Naveed Akram’s name.
The logs show he checked in at 11:40pm on November 1, made weekly payments, then checked out at 12:05pm on November 28.
Hotel staff said the pair generally stayed in their rooms for the entire stay, leaving for just one or two hours a day.
During the overnight shift, the hotel only has one staff member rostered on, who casually monitors the front desk. The CCTV was recorded by a neighbouring business during this window.
Gunmen’s movements in Philippines under police investigation
Philippine and Australian police are still investigating how the pair spent their time in the Philippines in the lead-up to the attack at Bondi Beach.
The revelation that they had travelled to Davao, the largest city in Mindanao, had fuelled speculation about why the gunmen spent time in the region before the shooting.
The GV Hotel is in downtown Davao, near the city hall and the police station. (ABC News: Haidarr Jones)
A senior counter-terrorism official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, earlier this week told the ABC that the pair allegedly underwent “military-style training” in November.
Mindanao has long struggled with Islamic militancy and has been described as a “hotspot” for violent extremism.
Davao is a half-day drive from the Mindanao regions of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao, areas that still have some extremist militants who have pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
These groups are understood to be limited in size, with access to few resources.
Hundreds of Islamic State militants were killed when Philippines regained control of the Lanao del Sur city of Marawi, after it was seized by IS-aligned fighters in 2017.
The CCTV raises questions about how Naveed and Sajid may have spent their time in the country.
Philippine authorities say ‘no evidence’ gunmen received training in country
Earlier this week, the country’s national security adviser, Eduardo Ano, said he rejected “reports describing Mindanao as a hotspot for violent extremism or Islamic State ideology”.
“There is no valid report or confirmation that the two received any form of military training while in the country, and no evidence supports such a claim at present,” he said.
“Philippine security forces have significantly degraded ISIS-affiliated groups in the country.
“The remnants of these groups have been fragmented, deprived of leadership, and operationally degraded.”
Read more on the Bondi Beach shooting:
On Wednesday, a Davao spokesperson for the Philippine National Police (PNP) said they were still investigating whether Naveed and Sajid Akram arrived in Davao and whether they travelled elsewhere.
A Philippines Immigration spokesperson told the ABC that the pair had never been to the country before November.
The PNP has been approached for comment.