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Punjab YouTuber held for spying for Pakistan, had links with Jyoti Malhotra
Jasbir Singh of Mahlan village in Rupnagar district went to Pakistan in 2020, 2021 and 2024 and his electronic devices contained multiple Pakistan intel officials’ numbers that he tried to delete after Jyoti Malhotra’s arrest in Hisar last month.
Punjab Police on Wednesday unearthed an espionage network linked to Jasbir Singh, a resident of Mahlan village in Rupnagar district for links with Haryana-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra and Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a Pakistan high commission official who was expelled on May 13.
“Acting swiftly on actionable intelligence, the State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Mohali, unearthed a critical espionage network,” Punjab director general of police Gaurav Yadav said.
Jasbir, who operates a YouTube channel called ‘Jaan Mahal’ with 11 lakh subscribers, was found to be associated with Pakistan intelligence officer Shakir, alias Jutt Randhawa, a part of a terror-backed espionage network.
He was also in touch with Jyoti Malhotra, 33, who ran a YouTube channel ‘Travel with JO’ and was arrested in Hisar last month.
Investigations have revealed that Jasbir attended the Pakistan National Day event in #Delhi on Danish’s invitation, where he met Pakistani army officials and vloggers.
He travelled to Pakistan in 2020, 2021 and 2024 and his electronic devices contained multiple Pakistan-based numbers, now under forensic scrutiny.
After Jyoti Malhotra’s arrest, Jasbir attempted to erase all traces of his communications with these PIOs to avoid detection.
An FIR has been registered at SSOC, Mohali.
The accused had visited various countries, including Pakistan, Canada, Maldives, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, in the past five years.
Jasbir’s latest post was an inconspicuous video uploaded on Tuesday about a gate being built at his under-construction house.
He has deleted all videos about his visits to Pakistan.
“Investigation is underway to dismantle the broader espionage-terror network and identify all collaborators,” the DGP said.
On Tuesday, Punjab Police arrested Gagandeep Singh, alias Gagan of Rodupur Mohalla, Gali Nazar Singh Wali in Tarn Taran, for sharing sensitive information with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pakistan-based Khalistani supporter Gopal Singh Chawla.
Jasbir’s arrest takes the number of arrests for spying to nine in the border state. The action on spy networks within the country comes in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead and the four-day military conflict with Pakistan that followed under Operation Sindoor from May 7 to 10.
