E-Paper
Espionage case: Punjab YouTuber Jasbir’s police remand extended by 2 days
Jasbir Singh was in touch with influencer Jyoti Malhotra, who is in custody on charges of spying for Pakistan, and after his arrest, the police had said that it had unearthed a terror-backed espionage network linking him to Pakistani intelligence and army officials.
A Mohali court on Saturday extended for two days the police remand of Punjab-based YouTuber Jasbir Singh, who was arrested on espionage charges on June 4.
Jasbir Singh, 41, was produced in the court after his three-day police remand ended on Saturday. Police sought a seven-day remand, but the court granted them two days, his counsel said.
Jasbir Singh was in touch with influencer Jyoti Malhotra, who is in custody on charges of spying for Pakistan, and after his arrest, the police had said that it had unearthed a terror-backed espionage network linking him to Pakistani intelligence and army officials.
“Haryana Police had summoned Jasbir Singh on June 6 in the Jyoti Malhotra espionage case but before he could join the investigation, he was arrested by Punjab Police”, Jasbir Singh’s counsel Mohit Dhupar claimed on Saturday.
He also denied the charge that Singh was an agent of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.
Jasbir alias Jaan Mahal, a resident of Mahlan village in Rupnagar district, was running a YouTube channel “JaanMahal Video” with over 11 lakh subscribers, ostensibly posting travel and cooking vlogs.
After Singh’s arrest, Punjab police had claimed that it unearthed a “terror-backed espionage network” linking him to Pakistani intelligence and army officials.
Police had said that the YouTuber was allegedly spying for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Dhupar said he met him in the court on Saturday.
“We spoke to him. There is no such thing that is being said in the media that he was an ISI agent,” said Dhupar, claiming he was just a vlogger.
Dhupar said Singh was summoned by Punjab Police from May 17 till May 30. He had already given his mobile phone and laptop to the police, said the counsel.
Dhupar said on June 2, Hisar police summoned Singh to join the investigation in the Jyoti Malhotra case on June 6.
When Punjab Police came to know about him being summoned by the Haryana police, Singh was asked to appear on June 3 and he was arrested on June 4, said the counsel.
Hisar native Malhotra (33) who was running a YouTube channel ‘Travel with JO’ was arrested last month.
On May 13, India expelled Danish, who was posted at the Pakistan High Commission, for allegedly indulging in espionage.
Jasbir was allegedly found to be associated with a Pakistani Intelligence Operative (PIO). He was in contact with a Pakistan high commission official who was recently expelled from New Delhi on charges of spying and had met Pakistan Army officials during one of his three visits to the neighbouring country, police had earlier said.
He was allegedly in close contact with Jyoti Malhotra and was also associated with PIO Shakir alias Jutt Randhawa, cops said.
The accused had also travelled to Pakistan on three occasions including in 2020, 2021 and 2024, and came into direct contact with ISI officers, who subsequently cultivated and recruited him to carry out espionage activities within India, police had said.
Investigations revealed that Singh attended the Pakistan National Day event in Delhi on Danish’s invitation, where he met Pakistani Army officials and vloggers.
After Jyoti Malhotra’s arrest, accused Singh had attempted to erase all traces of his communications with these PIOs to avoid detection, police had said.
