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How ex-Pakistan high commission staffer Danish targeted YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra
YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, during interrogation, confessed to having been in touch with Danish from November 2023 to March 2025.
Amid the ongoing probe into YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra's Pakistani links, it has been revealed that expelled Pakistan high commission staffer, Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, tried to recruit around two dozen individuals in Delhi who had either applied for a visa to Islamabad or were relatives of the applicant.
The Delhi Police launched an initial probe into the matter after its intelligence wing's Pakistan desk raised flags, The Times of India reported, citing a special branch officer. Subsequently, around 25 people were separately examined by the police. However, no incriminating evidence was found against them, resulting in them being let off.
It reportedly seemed that high commission staffers' attempts to get these individuals on board did not succeed.
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Additionally, the Delhi Police's investigation has also unearthed that the high commission's claim that Danish was a visa officer was false. Instead, he was an inspector-rank officer with the Pakistani intelligence agency - ISI.
The ToI report cited a source and said, "He (Danish) was reporting to a senior ISI officer named Shoaib and was tasked with arranging Indian SIM cards, besides recruiting influencers. Danish's passport was issued in Islamabad, and he was granted a visa for India on January 21, 2022. As per his documents, Danish was born in Narowal in Pakistan's Punjab province."
On May 13, India declared Danish persona non grata for his alleged involvement in gathering sensitive information and promoting narratives in favour of Pakistan.
Haryana-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra was arrested last week under espionage charges for her alleged links with Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs). During interrogation, she admitted that she had been in touch with Danish from November 2023 to March 2025. Authorities believed that the expelled high commission staffer was actively working to develop Malhotra as an intelligence asset.
Police officials said on Wednesday that while Malhotra was knowingly in contact with PIOs, no evidence has been found of her links to terrorist activity or associations with known terrorist groups, HT reported.
Hisar Superintendent of Police said, “So far, we have not found any evidence of her involvement in any terror activity or her alignment with any terrorist group."
Malhotra was among 12 persons arrested by the Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh police for their alleged role in Pakistani spy operations.
Pakistan high commission and acts of espionage
The Pakistan high commission in the national capital reportedly has a history of being linked to espionage activities.
ISI embeds its agents into the high commission and then keeps rotating them among various postings in the office, ToI reported, citing sources.
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The interrogation of Pakistani intelligence officials (PIOs) has established that ISI inducts army officers and trains them to spy before sending them to the high commission under fake identities with fake passports.
With the help of visa applicants, the PIOs reportedly find vulnerable army or paramilitary men to avail quick and hassle-free visas.
A senior official revealed that these visa applicants only help the PIOs secure Indian SIM cards, which are later used to contact prospective recruits.
In May 2020, the Delhi police's special cell, along with the military intelligence, foiled one such plot, wherein two officials who posed as visa officers turned out to ISI agents. The two, Abid Hussain and Tahir Khan, were identified, declared persona non grata and expelled from the nation.
After this, the overall strength of the Pakistan high commission was brought down from 180 to 90.
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Later in 2021, a sting operation led officials to find out that a Pakistani-origin visa officer at the high commission was working for the ISI.
In 2016, ISI officer Mehmood Akhtar was reportedly caught posing as a visa official at the high commission. While two of his Indian associates were caught, Akhtar had to be let off because of his diplomatic immunity. ISI had recruited him in 2013 and sent him on posting to the Pakistani high commission in Delhi.
