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YouTuber Jyoti Held for Spying: ISI Contacts Under Fake IDs

YouTuber Jyoti: Haryana police’s anti-espionage wing arrested Jyoti Malhotra, a travel vlogger from Hisar, on suspicion of spying and sharing private information with Pakistani intelligence.

The 34-year-old also faces charges of spreading pro-Pakistan content online. Jyoti runs a YouTube channel with over 3.2 lakh subscribers and has a strong following on other social media platforms. Police detained her for five days. They revealed she visited Pakistan more than four times and traveled to Bali with a man she was seeing. Jyoti also admitted meeting the expelled Pakistani intelligence officer Ehsan-ur-Rahim at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi in 2023.

Fake IDs for ISI agents:

According to the police, Jyoti saved the numbers of Pakistani intelligence officers under fake names like “Jatt Randhawa” and communicated with them through encrypted apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat. She mostly lived in New Delhi.

Jyoti admitted to meeting Pakistani intelligence agent Ehsan-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish, at Pakistan’s high commission in New Delhi in 2023, DSP Kamaljit Singh said. Reports reveal that Danish, who was expelled on May 13 this year, helped her extend her visa and connected her with handlers, including two men named Shakir and Rana Shahbaz.

Police seized her laptop, phone, and other electronics for forensic analysis. They are also examining bank records to track any financial transactions linked to espionage. Authorities have filed a case in Hisar under sections 153 of the BNS and 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act.

Also Read: Could Tracking Jyoti Malhotra Have Prevented Pahalgam Attack?

Previous arrests in similar cases:

Since May 7, Haryana and Punjab police have arrested seven people connected to espionage. On May 11, Punjab police took two Malerkotla residents linked to Pakistani official Danish into custody. Haryana police detained Kaithal student Devender Singh Dhillon on May 15 and Naumen Elahi, from Kairana, Uttar Pradesh, on May 13, suspecting them of providing information to Pakistani handlers. Dhillon, an MA student, allegedly joined the espionage network while traveling via the Kartarpur corridor to attend Gurdwara Darbar Sahib. Police arrested two more employees from the Bathinda military station on May 7 and May 14 due to similar concerns. While police continue investigating their roles, they found suspicious data on one suspect’s phone.