The elder brother of Australia's Pakistani-origin cricket star Usman Khawaja was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly framing a Sri Lankan student over a fake terror plot that threatened to assassinate top Australian politicians, police said.
New South Wales Police detained 39-year-old Arsalan Khawaja, the brother of Test cricketer Usman.
In August, police charged Sri Lankan student Mohamed Kamer Nizamdeen in Sydney over an alleged plan in a notebook which was found in an office in the same building as the library of the University of New South Wales earlier this year.
Khawaja, who worked in the same department as Nizamdeen (25) had been partly motivated by a "personal grievance" over a woman, Australian police said.
The Sri Lankan PhD student had claimed that that he was framed by a rival at the University of New South Wales where he worked.
Nizamdeen endured more than four weeks of solitary confinement after he was arrested on terrorism charges. Police accused him of plotting the attacks in his notebook. However, he was released in October after police failed to connect his handwriting to the writing in the notebook.
Police in Australia have charged Khawaja with forgery and an attempt to pervert justice.
On Tuesday, police alleged Nizamdeen had been "set up in a planned and calculated manner" by Khawaja.
When he appeared in court this afternoon, he did not say anything but listened attentively from the dock, dressed in a white open-necked shirt, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Nizamdeen, who has returned to Sri Lanka, has indicated he plans to seek compensation from authorities for his wrongful detention.
On Tuesday, New South Wales police expressed "regret" for Nizamdeen's experience.
Khawaja was arrested on Tuesday in suburban Sydney. Police had questioned him over the notebook last month.
Meanwhile, speaking at Adelaide Oval, Usman said the arrest of his brother was a matter for police.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)