Indian travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan
- Last updated: May 19, 2025 | 17:17
The Indian state of Haryana police have arrested six people, including a Hisar-based YouTuber and travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra, on charges of spying and passing sensitive information to Pakistani operatives, officials said.
These are the prominent arrests in Haryana in less than a week, after Punjab police arrested two for espionage linked to the Pakistan High Commission arrest, after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire.
Jyoti, who visited Pakistan twice in 2023, was sent to a five-day police remand. She was linked to a spy network in Haryana and Punjab.
Vikas Kumar, a spokesperson for the police, said officials are questioning her to gather details about the crime.
Days after the arrest of Haryana-based YouTuber and travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra on charges of espionage, the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF) has arrested a businessman from Rampur for allegedly spying for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The accused, identified as Shahzad, was arrested in Moradabad after the STF received intelligence regarding his involvement in cross-border smuggling and espionage activities for Pakistan. According to officials, Shahzad had been passing sensitive national security-related information to his handlers in Pakistan.
According to the first information report (FIR), the travel blogger visited the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2023, where she came into contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, a staffer.
She has been accused of sharing sensitive information regarding Indian locations and was used to project Pakistan on social media in a positive light.
Danish, who has since been declared persona non grata by the Indian government and expelled on May 13, introduced her to multiple intelligence operatives based in Pakistan.
Investigators say she also entered into an intimate relationship with an intelligence operative and travelled to Bali in Indonesia with him.
During Danish's stay in Delhi, she was allegedly in regular touch with him. During her trips to Pakistan, she reportedly met with Pakistani intelligence officers and began supplying them with sensitive information on Indian military installations and movements.
She allegedly used encrypted messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat to communicate and saved contacts of Pakistan's ISI under fake names in her phone to conceal their identity.
Jyoti, who was running a YouTube channel named 'Travel with Jo,’ has been booked under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on the statement of Sub-Inspector Bijender Singh in the Civil Lines Police Station in Hisar.
According to the police, Devender Dhillon, a resident of a village in Kaithal district, was also arrested on espionage charges. He is accused of providing strategic details, including updates on Operation Sindoor.
Earlier this week, Punjab police arrested two people, including a 31-year-old woman, for their alleged involvement in espionage activities linked to an official posted at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
Those arrested have been identified as Gazala and Yameen Mohamad, both residents of Malerkotla in Punjab. Police teams have also recovered two mobile phones from their possession.
The development came days after Amritsar (Rural) Police arrested two people, identified as Falaksher Masih and Suraj Masih, for their alleged role in leaking sensitive information and photographs of army cantonment areas and air bases to Pakistan's intelligence agency.
Indo-Asian News Service