Arsalan Khawaja lobbed parking officer’s phone after getting ticket

The embattled brother of Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja assaulted a Sydney council ranger who gave him a parking ticket. It happened around three months before he was charged with framing a university colleague with a fake terror hit list.

The embattled brother of Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja assaulted a Sydney council ranger who gave him a parking ticket.

Former UNSW employee Arsalan Khawaja was furiously screaming when he snatched Randwick Council worker Kamini Narayan’s mobile phone and threw it into a bush last year, causing her to fear for her safety, agreed facts show.

Arsalan Khawaja was charged for forgery wrongful imprisonment of his college. Picture: Adam Yip

It happened around three months before he was charged with framing a university colleague with a fake terror hit list.

The 39-year-old, who is now in custody, fronted his Waverley Local Court hearing today where he pleaded guilty to a newly laid charge of common assault as prosecutors withdrew his original charge of stealing the phone.

Dressed in a suit and tie, Khawaja was supported in court by his father Tariq Khawaja and the council worker also arrived ready to give evidence.

The IT worker had left a blue Ford parked in a ‘no stopping’ zone on Short Street in Randwick about 8.40am on Thursday, August 23 when he returned to discover the ranger placing a ticket on his windscreen, agreed facts show.

As Ms Narayan walked away Khawaja lashed out and “yelled at the victim, claiming he had only been stopped for 30 seconds.”

“The accused became irate,” court documents state.

Usman Khawaja's and brother Arsalan

Ms Narayan tried to calm Khawaja down and then get away from him but he blocked her path as he attempted to take photos of her.

Khawaja then snatched the council worker’s phone out of her hand which caused Ms Narayan “to fear immediate and unlawful violence.”

He then lobbed the phone into the bushes of a nearby garden bed before driving off, agreed facts show.

Khawaja showed up at Randwick Police Station to report the incident, but Ms Narayan and witnesses were close behind and after officers took their statements Khawaja was arrested.

In a police interview he denied ever grabbing the victim’s mobile phone, agreed facts state.

Khawaja is accused of framing his ex UNSW IT department colleague Mohamed Kamer Nilar Nizamdeen

Test cricketer Usman Khawaja’s brother Arsalan is arrested. Picture: NSW Police

Khawaja is accused of framing his ex UNSW IT department colleague Mohamed Kamer Nilar Nizamdeen with a bogus terror plot targeting then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, former foreign minister Julie Bishop and landmarks including the Opera House.

In early December Khawaja was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and forgery but counter terror police have since slapped him with an additional charge of influence witness in judicial proceedings.

Khawaja is due to be sentenced for the assault matter at Waverley Local Court on June 13.