Australia cricketer Usman Khawaja's brother re-arrested
Arsalan Khawaja, the brother of Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja, has been re-arrested on charges of trying to influence a witness over a case where he allegedly tried to implicate a love rival in a fictitious terrorist plot.
Arsalan was previously arrested and released on bail in early December on condition he surrenders his passport and reports to police three times a week.
Arsalan was pulled over while driving in Sydney on December 4. He was charged at the Parramatta Police Station, in Sydney's west, with forgery by making a false document, attempting to pervert justice and lying to police.
Arsalan was re-arrested on Thursday "after allegedly attempting to influence a witness" in the counter-terror investigation, news agency AFP quoted a New South Wales state police spokeswoman as saying.
The 39-year-old has been charged with breaching his bail conditions and influencing a witness. He was refused bail ahead of his appearance in a Sydney court later on Friday.
The arrest comes as Usman Khawaja plays for Australia in the ongoing third Test match against India in Melbourne.
Arsalan is alleged to have loaded information relating to a fake terrorist plot onto a notebook computer used by a colleague at the University of New South Wales. The plot included a purported attempt to assassinate former Australia prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and his deputy Julie Bishop.
There were also blueprints for attacks on landmarks, including the Sydney Opera House.
The notebook, belonging to 25-year-old Sri Lanka-born PhD student Mohamed Nizamdeen, was discovered in an office in the university at the university.
Nizamdeen was arrested, charged with terrorist offences and held in solitary confinement for four weeks at Sydney's Goulburn Supermax prison before being freed.
Police allege Khawaja and Nizamdeen were rivals for the affection of the same woman, leading Khawaja to devise the plot which led to his arrest on Tuesday.
