YouTuber Held for Espionage

THE DIGITAL STEPS INCLUDED BLOCKING NEARLY 8K SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS, 90% OF WHICH WERE PAKISTAN-BASED, OFFICIALS SAID

- Sunil Rahar

ROHTAK: Haryana police have arrested a YouTuber for allegedly passing on sensitive information to Pakistani intelligence operatives, including a High Commission staffer expelled by India on May 13, officials said on Saturday.

Hisar resident Jyoti Malhotra, 33, is accused of being part of a spy network that spanned Punjab and Haryana. Police have made four similar arrests this week.

Malhotra runs a YouTube channel called Travel with JO with nearly 400,000 subscribers. She was arrested from her house in New Aggarsain Extension of Hisar on May 16. During questioning, Malhotra confessed to sharing sensitive information with Pakistani operatives, Hisar police spokesperson Vikas Kumar said.

"After her arrest, we have seized the mobile phone and laptop of blogger Jyoti Malhotra and recovered some sensitive documents pertaining to passing sensitive information to Pakistani operatives," Hisar deputy superintendent of police (headquarters) Kamaljeet Singh said.

Malhotra, who has been booked under sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act, was sent to five-day police remand.

An FIR was registered on May 16 at Hisar Civil Lines police station based on a complaint lodged by sub-inspector Sanjay, who goes by one name. HT has seen a copy of the FIR.

In 2023, Malhotra came in contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, at the Pakistan High Commission where she went to seek a visa to visit the neighboring nation, according to the FIR. Malhotra, who visited Pakistan twice, met Danish's acquaintance Ali Ahwan who arranged her stay there, the document said.