Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja's brother arrested over fake terror 'hit list'
SYDNEY, Dec 04: The brother of Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja was arrested Tuesday for allegedly framing a love rival as the author of a terrorist hit list.
Arsakan Khawaja, 39, is accused of trying to set up his former university colleague Mohamed Kamer Nizamdeen, by convincing police that the 26- year-old was part of a plot to kill then prime minister Malcom Turnbull.
Nizamdeen was arrested in August after a purported terror hit list was found in his notebook. He was released only weeks later, when police figured out the script did not match his handwriting.
"What we will be alleging is that he (Nizamdeen) was set up in a planned and calculated manner. Motivated, in part, by a personal grievance," New South Wales assistant commissioner Mick Willing told reporters.
Willing added that the grievance was over a woman, and that line of enquiry was "part of the process" being investigated.
He said there is no ongoing threat to the community.
Australian police now say they "regret" arresting Sri Lankan-born Nizamdeen. "In relation to the charging and the subsequent dropping of the charge against the Sri Lankan citizen, we have offered, and have paid his court costs," Willing said.
"We regret the circumstances which led to him being charged and the time he subsequently spent in custody."
He is reportedly seeking further damages from authorities.
Arsakan Khawaja was arrested in suburban Sydney on Tuesday and is being questioned over allegations he attempted to pervert justice by making a false document, which listed high-profile targets.
Pakistan-born Australian batsman Usman Khawaja is due to make a return from injury this Thursday against India in the first of a four match series.
Courtesy: timesofindia
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Ghatkopar hoarding collapse accused brought to Mumbai, to be produced in court
Mumbai (PTI): Bhavesh Bhinde, an advertising firm’s director, whose company had put up the giant hoarding that collapsed in Mumbai killing 16 people, was brought to the city early on Friday, a police official said.
Bhinde, director of M/s Ego Media Pvt. Ltd., the advertising agency which recently installed the billboard that crashed in suburban Ghatkopar on Monday evening, was apprehended from Udaipur in Rajasthan on Thursday, he said.
Bhinde was then taken to Ahmedabad and from there he was brought to Mumbai by flight, the official said.
The police team along with Bhinde arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport around 5 am and he was taken to a crime branch office, he said.
He will be produced before the court later in the day, he said.
After trailing Bhinde for three days, the city police nabbed him on Thursday from Udaipur, he said.
The 120 feet x 120 feet hoarding collapsed onto a nearby petrol pump in the Chhedanagar area in Ghatkopar during gusty winds and heavy unseasonal rains, killing 16 people and injuring 75 others.
After the tragedy, a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under the IPC was registered at the Pant Nagar Police Station against Bhinde, all directors of the advertising agency Ego Media, its officials and employees, officials had said earlier.
