NIA, IB grill arrested YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, focus on Pak, China visits
So far, 14 people have been arrested on espionage charges in multiple north Indian states over the past two weeks.
National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials questioned YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, arrested over espionage charge, on her alleged links with Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs), people familiar with the probe said on Monday, adding that her recent trips to Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and Dubai are also under the scanner.
So far, 14 people have been arrested in multiple north Indian states over the past two weeks — including four in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the last 24 hours — for allegedly sharing sensitive information with Pakistani operatives, officers said.
“NIA team was here to interrogate the accused (Jyoti Malhotra),” Hisar superintendent of police (SP) Shashank Kumar Sawan told HT. NIA did not comment on the matter.
An officer declining to be named said that besides NIA, Malhotra was also questioned by IB and other central intelligence agency officials. “Information gathered so far reveals she got her passport made in 2018, which is valid till 2028, and that she has since travelled to Pakistan, China, Dubai, Thailand, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia and other countries. We are gathering more details about her visits, particularly to Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and Dubai,” the officer added.
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Elaborating on the involvement of NIA, a second officer also declining to be named said: “The ministry of home affairs (MHA) may consider handing over the case to the federal anti-terror investigation agency for a larger conspiracy probe where Pakistan high commission officials in Delhi and PIOs across the border used Indian influencers/YouTubers for propaganda and to get information from them.”
On Sunday, Hisar SP Sawan had claimed that PIOs were grooming Malhotra to become an asset. He also claimed that Malhotra had visited Pakistan several times, including a trip before the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, and also travelled to China.
It is alleged that 33-year-old Malhotra, a resident of Hisar in Haryana whose YouTube channel and Instagram accounts have 377,000 subscribers and 133,000 followers, got in touch with Pakistani officer Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish posted at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi in 2023 while seeking a visa.
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Danish, now declared persona non grata by India, introduced her to Ali Ahwan, who arranged her accommodation and further meetings with Pakistani security officials Shakir and Rana Shahbaz. “She saved Shakir’s contact as ‘Jatt Randhawa’ to avoid suspicion,” an FIR registered against her said.
After returning to India, Malhotra allegedly continued communication with the operatives via encrypted apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat. She met Danish multiple times at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi. The FIR further claims that Malhotra was part of a wider espionage network operating across Haryana and Punjab, involving agents, informants, and financial handlers.
It, however, remains unknown if she had access to any sensitive information related to Indian military or strategic assets or policies.
Meanwhile, four more people were arrested in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on Monday for allegedly leaking sensitive information to Pakistani operatives, taking the total arrests to 14 — eight in Punjab, five in Haryana, and one in UP — in counter-espionage operations, officers said.
The arrests took place in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s military strike on terror infrastructures in Pakistan and PoK under Operation Sindoor on May 7.
Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said the two men — Sukhpreet Singh and Karanbir Singh, both from Gurdaspur — were arrested on Monday for allegedly sharing sensitive military information with ISI. The Gurdaspur police recovered three mobile phones and eight live cartridges of .30 bore from their possession.
“On May 15, credible intelligence inputs indicated that Sukhpreet Singh and Karanbir Singh were engaged in sharing classified details related to Operation Sindoor, including troop movement and key strategic locations in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, with Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI. Acting swiftly, the police have put both the suspects under surveillance and apprehended them,” the DGP added.
In neighbouring Haryana, Mohammad Tarif, a resident of the Kangarka village in Nuh district, was arrested on Monday in a joint operation of the district police and central agency. A local quack, Tarif is accused of leaking intelligence information of military activities to Pakistan, police said, adding he has allegedly confessed to giving a SIM card to an employee at the Pakistan High Commission and going to Pakistan.
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In addition to the arrests made from Punjab and Haryana, an alleged agent of ISI was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur on Sunday night by the state’s Special Task Force, officers said.
The accused Shahzad Wahab, 35, had allegedly recruited 20 people, including three women, to spy for Pakistan’s secret agency and provided them funds on the instructions of his ISI handlers operating from across the border, officers said.
In Odisha, police have launched a probe against a Puri-based YouTuber Priyanka Senapati (21) over her links with fellow YouTuber Malhotra, officials said, adding they have not found anything suspicious so far.
(With inputs from Surjit Singh in Amritsar, Debabrata Mohanty in Bhubaneswar and HTC Lucknow)
