Haryana travel blogger arrested for spying, linked to Pak intelligence network
Travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra, a resident of Hisar, was arrested after she confessed to sharing sensitive information with Pakistani operatives.
A Hisar woman travel blogger was arrested for allegedly spying and passing sensitive information to Pakistani operatives, marking the third arrest from Haryana this week after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire.
Travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra, a resident of Hisar, was arrested after she confessed to sharing sensitive information with Pakistani operatives. She was booked under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act. She has been sent to a five-day police remand.
Confirming her arrest, Hisar police spokesman Vikas Kumar said that Jyoti Malhotra was taken into custody and officials are questioning her to gather more details.
An FIR was registered at Hisar Civil Lines police station based on a complaint lodged by sub-inspector Sanjay. According to the FIR, the blogger visited the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2023, where she came into contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, a staffer at the Pakistan High Commission (PHC) in New Delhi. India has since then expelled the Pakistan official. A statement from the external affairs ministry said the government had declared the staffer of the Pakistani mission “persona non grata for indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status in India”. The statement did not give further details of the matter.
“The woman revealed that she remained in touch with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish and during her Pakistan visit in 2023, she met Ali Ehwan, who ensured my staying and travelling in Pakistan. Ehwan introduced her to Pakistani security and intelligence officials, where she also met with Shakir and Rana Shahbaz,” the FIR reads.
“The blogger had saved Shakir’s name with ‘Jatt Randhawa’ so that no one could create doubt on her. After returning from Pakistan in 2023, she remained in touch with all the operatives on encrypted platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat,” the police FIR added.
The woman blogger had visited Pakistan twice in 2023. Jyoti Malhotra ran the YouTube channel “Travel with Jo.” She is part of a network that spanned across Haryana and Punjab, with key operatives acting as agents, financial conduits, and informants.
Danish, who has since been declared persona non grata by the Indian government and expelled on May 13, 2025, allegedly introduced Jyoti to multiple Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs).
She allegedly shared sensitive information concerning Indian locations and was actively used to project a positive image of Pakistan on social media.
Investigators say she also entered into an intimate relationship with a PIO and even travelled to Bali, Indonesia with him. During Danish’s stay in Delhi, she continued coordinating with him, further raising suspicions.
Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini said that the investigation agencies are on the job.
“If such elements are caught, action will be taken accordingly,” he added.
Meanwhile in Nuh, police arrested a 23-year-old Arman on Saturday for allegedly providing SIM cards to Pakistani operatives in India. The police recovered a mobile phone from him and took him on a six-day police remand. According to police officials, he was in touch with Pakistani operatives since 2023.
Sixth espionage arrest in region
PUNJAB
On May 8, Malerkotla residents Guzala and Yameen Mohammad, a passport and visa agent, were arrested for their involvement in espionage activities linked to the staffer at the Pakistan High Commission. Both have been booked under Section 152 of the BNS and Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Official Secret Act at Police Station City-1, Malerkotla. Malerkotla SSP Gaganajit Singh said Guzala had visited the Pakistani embassy on February 27 and April 23 this year. “Though she never visited Pakistan, she started passing information relating to Indian Army’s movements in return for money paid via UPI.” SSP said Yameen had travelled to Pakistan twice, in 2018 and 2022. Both accused were sent to judicial custody on May 15.
On May 12, a civilian identified as Raquib, working as a tailor at the military station in Bathinda, was caught on suspicion of spying. His mobile phone was sent for forensic analysis.
On April 29, Sunil Kumar, who was working as a cobbler in the Bathinda cantonment, was caught on similar suspicion.
The police, on Saturday, said that the mobile phones of both the accused, Raquib and Sunil, were examined and no evidence was found. “Both were thoroughly questioned by a police team and their property details were examined. But nothing suspicious has been found yet linking them with an espionage racket,” said a senior police official requesting anonymity.
On May 4, Punjab Police arrested two persons — Falak Sher Masih and Suraj Masih— both residents of Balarhwal village, for their alleged role in leaking sensitive information and photographs of army cantonment areas and air bases in Amritsar to Pakistan’s ISI, officials said. “An FIR has been registered at the Ajnala police station under Sections 3, 5, and 9 of the Official Secrets Act, Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, and Section 61(2) of the BNS,” said SSP Maninder Singh. Both were in contact with Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the SSP added.
The accused are in judicial custody now, and the investigations are ongoing, an official privy to the probe said, pleading anonymity.
HARYANA
On May 12, Nauman Elahi, 24, who worked as a private security guard at a blanket manufacturing factory in Panipat, was arrested for sharing sensitive information with his Pakistan-based handlers. Elahi belongs to Kairana in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district. Elahi, who is in six-day police remand, had also visited Pakistan in the past.
On May 12, Devendra Singh Dhillon, 25, of Guhla in Kaithal district was arrested for spying and passing on sensitive information to Pakistan. Dhillon, who is a student of political science at Khalsa College, Patiala, was arrested from Kaithal. During questioning, it emerged that he went to Pakistan in November last year through the Kartarpur Corridor and was sharing sensitive information with officers of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. Police have seized his phone and sent it for forensic investigation. His bank account is being probed to ascertain the money trail.
