India seeks access to terror-accused ‘PDP MLA’s Gmail accounts’, US responds with posers | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The US authorities, in response to a legal aid request filed by the J&K Police through the Ministry of External Affairs, have sought access to two alleged Gmail accounts by PDP MLA and accused of terrorism Waheed-ur-Rehman Parahave asked a series of counter questions and clarifications.
Sources said the US Department of Justicein response to India’s request, conveyed under the treaty on mutual legal assistance (MLAT), said it would have to determine that Para’s “described conduct” would also be punishable in the US in order to request content data from Google. It was also asked whether there was any specific basis to believe that Para’s accounts would contain material relevant to the suspects’ attempts to channel money to banned outfits. Lashker-e-Taiba. Third, the DoJ wanted to know how the email IDs were obtained by the Indian authorities. The counter-questions are seen by some observers as a possible delaying tactic. In April 2023, Para received a three-month fellowship from the American Yale University. However, the courts here did not allow him to travel to the US.
The investigation revealed that Para used two accounts – parawaheed01@gmail.com and waheedparra@gmail.com – in addition to the single email account – parawahid@gmail.com – he provided. Content retrieved from the provided Gmail account showed exchanges between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Hurriyat convener GM Safi and Altaf Ahmad Shah ‘Funtoosh’, son-in-law of hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, in December 2013. Para tried to settle the cases against him sages as fabricated, guided by political reasons and intended “to muzzle my voice and rights”. “I am a law-abiding citizen who has worked for the cause of democracy and peace and will continue to work in the same direction. Let them get a response from the US government or Google… I have no objection whatsoever.” He was arrested in November 2020 and released on bail by HC in May 2022.