YouTuber held for spying, tied to expelled Pakistan intel operative

CHANDIGARH: Haryana police’s anti-espionage wing arr-ested Hisar-based travel vlogger Jyoti Malhotra on charges of spying and sharing sensitive information with Pakistani intelligence.The 34-year-old, who runs a YouTube channel with over 3.2 lakh subscribers and maintains a large following across several platforms, is also accused of circulating pro-Pakistan content online. Jyoti was remanded in five-day police custody. Police said she travelled to Pakistan over four times and went to Bali with one operative she was in a relationship with.They added that Jyoti admitted to meeting Pakistani intel operative Ehsan-ur-Rahim at the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi in 2023 who was later expelled.Jyoti hid ISI operatives’ numbers under fake IDsPolice said Jyoti maintained encrypted contact with Pakistani intel operatives on platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat, saving their numbers under false names such as “Jatt Randhawa”. Jyoti mostly lived in New Delhi.According to DSP Kamaljit Singh, Jyoti admitted to meeting Pakistani intelligence operative Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish at Pakistan’s high commission in New Delhi in 2023. Danish, since expelled on May 13 this year, allegedly facilitated her visa extension and introduced her to handlers, including two men identified as Shakir and Rana Shahbaz.Police have seized her phone, laptop and other devices for forensic analysis. Bank records are under scrutiny to trace possible financial transactions linked to espionage. A case under sections 3 and 5 of Official Secrets Act and section 153 of BNS has been registered in Hisar. This marks the seventh espionage-related arrest in Haryana and Punjab since May 7. On May 11, Punjab police arrested two people from Malerkotla linked to Pakistani official Danish.Haryana police arrested Naumen Elahi, a native of UP’s Kairana, on May 13 and Kaithal student Devender Singh Dhillon on May 15 — both accused of passing information to Pakistani handlers. Dhillon, an MA student, was allegedly “recruited” during a visit to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib through Kartarpur corridor.Two others working inside Bathinda military station were rounded up on May 7 and 14 on similar suspicions. Police found suspicious data from one suspect’s phone, but their roles are still under investigation.