Aussie cricket Khawaja’s brother arrested over ‘ISIS terror hit list’ found at a university

Arsalan Khawaja (right) with brother Usman 

• Arsalan Khawaja, 39, allegedly planted the list of ISIS targets on Sri Lankan man 
• Police allege that Khawaja set up KamerNizamdeen after dispute over a girl
• Nizamdeen was charged in August and spent time in GoulburnSupermax jail
• Khawaja’s arrest comes days before Usman is due to play in Australia vs India

www.dailymail.co.uk: The brother of Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja has been arrested over a list of potential ISIS terror targets found at a Sydney university campus.

Arsalan Khawaja, 39, was arrested by NSW Police on Tuesday morning in relation to a ‘terror hit list’ which allegedly included high-profile local targets such as Malcolm Turnbull, Julie Bishop and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The list was initially believed to belong to Sri Lankan national KamerNizamdeen, 25, who was charged by anti-terror police after a raid at a University of New South Wales campus in August.  Nizamdeen was cleared of any wrongdoing last month and police will now allege he was set up by Arsalan Khawaja – aco-worker at the uni– whoforged the list and planted it on his rival after a dispute over a girl.  ‘A 39-year-old man was arrested at Parramatta at 8.30am today as part of an ongoing NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team investigation,’ NSW Police said in a statement.

‘The arrest relates to documents allegedly found on University of NSW grounds in August this year containing plans to facilitate terrorism attacks.

‘He has been taken to Parramatta Police Area Command where he will be spoken to in relation to the alleged Attempt to Pervert Justice, and Forgery – Making a False Document.’

He will face Parramatta Local Court in Sydney on Tuesday afternoon. 

In October, officers raided the home where Arsalan lives with his parents in western Sydney as part of their search for the person responsible for writing the list. The raid came just days before charges against the notebook’s owner Nizamdeen were dropped, after police admitted despite owning the notebook he did not write the threats.

The notebook had allegedly been discovered in a drawer in Nizamdeen’s desk at the University of New South Wales, where he was working and completing his PhD. 

Nizamdeen had been charged with creating a document in connection with preparing for a terrorist act. 

He spent four weeks behind bars at NSW’s toughest prison –Goulburn’sSupermax– butwas bailed in late-September.

Nizamdeen returned home to Sri Lanka to a hero’s welcome last month and is planning to take legal action against police. 

Khawaja’s arrest comes just two days before his brother Usman is due to lead the lineup in the first cricket Test between Australia and India on Thursday.

Usman Khawaja is not connected in any way to the counter-terror investigation.