Sydney Martin Place

An inquest into the deadly siege in which an extremist gunman held a cafe full of people captive in Sydney opens on Thursday, amid expectation it will officially lift the lid on how two hostages died.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott today vowed a transparent probe into why a deranged Islamic gunman was not under surveillance, as security was stepped up after a fatal cafe siege to reassure people now in the grip of fear.

Tearful Sydney office workers and Muslim women in hijabs laid flowers on Tuesday at the scene of a deadly siege, as an outpouring of grief and shock gripped the usually easy-going harbour city.

Helpline numbers have been set up for any information of Indian nationals after a gunman took an undisclosed number of people hostage at a Cafe in Martin Place in the heart of Sydney's business district.

A man holding hostages in a Sydney cafe on Monday has demanded that a flag of the Islamic State group be delivered to him and warned that four bombs have been planted around the city, a report said.

The Indian Consulate in Sydney was today evacuated in view of the hostage situation in a cafe near its premises and all the staff members are safe, the External Affairs Ministry today said.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said they had shut their Sydney CBD branches on Monday after a number of hostages were taken in a central city cafe.

Australian authorities are dealing with an "incident" at Sydney's Opera House, police said Monday, without elaborating on whether it was related to an ongoing siege at a nearby cafe.

Hostages were being held inside a cafe in central Sydney Monday with an Islamic flag displayed against a window, according to witnesses and reports, while police said they were also responding to an "incident" at the nearby Opera House.

An inquest into the deadly siege in which an extremist gunman held a cafe full of people captive in Sydney opens on Thursday, amid expectation it will officially lift the lid on how two hostages died.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott today vowed a transparent probe into why a deranged Islamic gunman was not under surveillance, as security was stepped up after a fatal cafe siege to reassure people now in the grip of fear.

Tearful Sydney office workers and Muslim women in hijabs laid flowers on Tuesday at the scene of a deadly siege, as an outpouring of grief and shock gripped the usually easy-going harbour city.

Helpline numbers have been set up for any information of Indian nationals after a gunman took an undisclosed number of people hostage at a Cafe in Martin Place in the heart of Sydney's business district.

A man holding hostages in a Sydney cafe on Monday has demanded that a flag of the Islamic State group be delivered to him and warned that four bombs have been planted around the city, a report said.

The Indian Consulate in Sydney was today evacuated in view of the hostage situation in a cafe near its premises and all the staff members are safe, the External Affairs Ministry today said.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said they had shut their Sydney CBD branches on Monday after a number of hostages were taken in a central city cafe.

Australian authorities are dealing with an "incident" at Sydney's Opera House, police said Monday, without elaborating on whether it was related to an ongoing siege at a nearby cafe.

Hostages were being held inside a cafe in central Sydney Monday with an Islamic flag displayed against a window, according to witnesses and reports, while police said they were also responding to an "incident" at the nearby Opera House.