Jyoti Malhotra: Authorities said on Saturday that they arrested Jyoti Malhotra, also known as Jyoti Rani, in Hisar, Haryana, for sharing Indian military intelligence with Pakistan. Malhotra runs the YouTube travel channel “Travel With Jo.” She is one of six people from Punjab and Haryana taken into custody on similar charges, including a 24-year-old security guard and a 25-year-old student.

YouTuber by day – Spy at night:

According to officials, the 33-year-old, who identifies herself on YouTube as a “nomadic Leo girl wanderer,” “Haryanvi+Punjabi,” and “purane khyalo ki modern ladki” (a modern girl with a traditional outlook), had at least two trips to the neighboring country after meeting an official at the Pakistan High Commission named Ehsan-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish.

Pakistani Friends:

Authorities declared Rahim persona non grata and ordered him to leave India within 24 hours for espionage and leaking sensitive information about Indian Army movements. This action followed last week’s Pahalgam terror attack and India’s counter-operation, “Operation Sindoor.”

After her interrogation, Jyoti Malhotra told police, “I went to the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2023 to apply for a visa when I met Rahim and started talking to him.” She added that she later made two trips to Pakistan, where she met Ali Ahwan, Rahim’s friend, who arranged her stay and visits there.

Jyoti Confession:

“I met Shakir and Rana Shahbaz in Pakistan after Ali Ahwan arranged a meeting with Pakistani security and intelligence officials,” Jyoti Malhotra told the police in an official confession. “I saved Shakir’s mobile number under the name ‘Jat Randhawa’ to avoid suspicion. After returning to India, I kept in touch with all of them through Telegram, WhatsApp, and Snapchat, spreading anti-national content. I also met Rahim several times.”

Police identified Malhotra, a resident of Hisar, as a suspect in espionage. They accused her of threatening India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity by engaging in suspicious activities and sharing Indian intelligence data with a Pakistani national declared persona non grata by the Indian government. Authorities placed her in police custody for five days.

Also Read: Haryana Student Arrested for Spying for Pakistan’s ISI

Other Arrests in India:
Nauman Ilahi, a security guard, was detained on suspicion of espionage for Pakistan on Wednesday in Panipat, Haryana. In the past, the 24-year-old would have money placed into his brother-in-law’s account in return for information.

Also Read: Why Afghans Love India: Unique Bond Beyond Borders

On May 12, Haryana Police detained 25-year-old Devendra Singh Dhillon, a student from Kaithal, for posting images of firearms on social media. During interrogation, he admitted that he had traveled to Pakistan via the Kartarpur corridor in November last year and shared sensitive information with ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) agents. Aastha Modi, the Superintendent of Police in Kaithal, stated that Dhillon, a first-year master’s student in political science at Khalsa College, Patiala, also sent photos of the Patiala military cantonment to Pakistani officers. Last week, Punjab Police arrested two more individuals on similar charges.

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