ISI was Developing Haryana YouTuber as an Asset for Pakistan

Chandigarh: Pakistani intelligence operatives were allegedly developing Haryana YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested on espionage charges, as an asset, said a senior Haryana police officer on Sunday. Police said she had visited Pakistan twice and China once.

She was allegedly in touch with a Pakistani officer posted at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi during the four-day Operation Sindoor that followed the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, the officer said addressing mediapersons in Hisar, Haryana.

Hisar superintendent of police Shashank Kumar Sawan said Malhotra did not have direct access to any information related to the military or defence operations which could be said at this stage that she could have shared. But she was directly in touch with Pakistan-based intelligence officers, he said.

“They were developing her as an asset. She was in touch with other YouTube influencers. They were also in touch with PIOs,” the SP said. “This is also (a kind of) warfare, in which they try to push their narrative by recruiting influencers,” he said.

Hisar-based Malhotra, 33, who runs a YouTube channel, 'Travel with JO', was arrested from New Aggarsain Extension on Friday. She has been booked under the Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Malhotra was sent to a five-day police remand.

Asked about any information on her movements during the Pahalgam terror attack and whether she was in contact with the Pakistani officer posted at the Pakistani High Commission during Operation Sindoor, the SP said during the (India-Pakistan) conflict, she was “in touch with the Pakistani intelligence officers and the person who was declared persona non grata”.

On May 13, India expelled the Pakistani official working at the High Commission for allegedly indulging in espionage.

In 2023, Malhotra came in contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish at the Pakistan High Commission where she went to seek a visa to visit the neighbouring nation, according to an FIR lodged at Civil Lines Police Station on May 16.

Malhotra, who visited Pakistan twice, had met Danish's acquaintance Ali Ahwan who arranged her stay there, the FIR read.

She met Danish several times at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi and was found to be in touch with PIOs, it said.

Her arrest came days after Punjab Police arrested two persons, including a woman, from Malerkotla district in Punjab for their alleged involvement in espionage activities linked to the Pakistani official posted at the High Commission.

Police says Pakistani agents were developing YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra as an asset.

Malhotra visited Pakistan twice and China once.

She was in touch with other YouTube influencers. They were also in touch with Pakistani intelligence officers, Hisar superintendent of police Shashank Kumar Sawan says.

Police and multiple teams analysing Malhotra’s financial transactions, travel details.

Forensic analysis of Malhotra’s laptop and other electronic gadgets underway.

On May 13, India expelled the Pakistani official working at the High Commission for allegedly indulging in espionage.

In 2023, Malhotra came in contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish at the Pakistan High Commission where she went to seek a visa She met Danish's acquaintance Ali Ahwan who arranged her stay there.

Malhotra met Danish several times at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi and was found to be in touch with Pakistani intelligence officers, FIR says.

During Operation Sindoor, Malhotra was in touch with a Pakistan High Commission official, whom India later declared persona non grata and expelled