Arsalan Tariq Khawaja (C) is seen at Parramatta Police Station in Sydney. File photo/AP

Gulf Today Report

The Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja’s older brother Arsalan Tariq Khawaja was jailed on Thursday for at least two years and six months over his actions in framing a colleague using a fake terror plot.

Arsalan admitted forging entries in the notebook of his University of New South Wales co-worker Kamer Nizamdeen in August 2018 after being jealous of Nizamdeen’s links with a mutual female friend.

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Nizamdeen was arrested, locked up in a maximum-security jail for four weeks and incorrectly labelled a terrorist in the media before police discovered he had been set up.

Judge Weber said Khawaja’s “unforgivable” actions had dire consequences for Nizamdeen, whose victim impact statement revealed the trauma and emotional harm suffered by him. He has returned to Sri Lanka, but is now unable to visit his fiancee in the United States after his visa was cancelled as a result of the incident.

Khawaja’s term was backdated to when he first went into custody, meaning he will be eligible for release on parole in June 2021.

Arsalan also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and dishonestly influencing a public official.