Pro-Pak content, encrypted chats: Haryana 'spy' YouTuber faces tough questioning
Haryana-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, 33, who runs the popular YouTube channel 'Travel with JO', is under intense questioning by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), and military intelligence after her arrest on espionage charges.Authorities arrested Jyoti on May 16 from New Aggarsain Extension in Hisar, booking her under the Official Secrets Act and the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act. She is one of 12 individuals recently arrested across Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh as part of a crackdown on a suspected Pakistan-linked spy network operating in northern India.advertisementLINE OF QUESTIONINGIndia Today TV has accessed details of Jyoti Malhotra's interrogation, now entering its fourth day. Despite multiple sessions with Haryana Police, NIA, IB, and military intelligence officials, the YouTuber has largely refused to cooperate, asserting her right to freedom of speech. Her custody is set to expire on Wednesday.Key areas of investigation focus on:2023 Pakistan visit: Officials are reportedly probing who initiated contact for her trip to Pakistan during Vaisakhi 2023, and whether a man named Harkirat Singh acted as a facilitator. Authorities are scrutinising discrepancies between her stated purpose and the footage she captured.Connections with Ehsan Dar (alias Danish): Investigators are determining when Jyoti met Ehsan, a Pakistani official linked to the Pakistan High Commission, and whether this was before or after her visa was denied in 2023. They want to know if she was aware of his official role and maintained contact even after he was declared persona non grata. Authorities are examining if Ehsan or his associates offered support such as visa assistance, funds, content ideas, or equipment, and whether any grooming or influence took place.advertisementVisa overstay and content direction: Questions focus on why Jyoti extended her visa in 2024 for over a month, whether this was accidental or deliberate, and who directed the tone and messaging of her videos perceived as pro-Pakistan.Pahalgam video controversy: Officials demanded explanations for her video, blaming Indian security forces despite contradictory facts, including the source of her claims.Further Pakistani contacts: Authorities are investigating if Jyoti met others besides Ehsan from the Pakistani side, the nature and duration of such contacts, and whether she communicated with them after incidents such as the Pahalgam attack.Encrypted chats and digital propaganda: Interrogators are reviewing encrypted chats found on her devices, the identity of her main contacts, and the use of secure communication tools such as Signal, Telegram, VPNs, or TOR. They are probing whether she received digital instructions, used foreign SIM cards, or had her devices modified under foreign guidance.Extensive international travel: Her travels to China, Dubai, Bangladesh, and Bhutan are also under scrutiny, with officials questioning if external financial or logistical assistance was involved.Religious and border site footage: The investigation included queries about any instructions to collect footage or information from sensitive sites like Kartarpur or Kashmir.Responsibility and intent: Authorities are also pressing Jyoti to clarify whether she accepts any responsibility or views herself as a scapegoat in a larger scheme.Trending Reel
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Print
12 minutes ago
- The Print
Sudhakar was last of 3 top Maoist leaders who took part in failed 2004 peace talks with Andhra govt
The two other leaders with Sudhakar were Akkiraju Hargopal, alias Ramakrishna alias RK, then state secretary of the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) People's War, also known as People's War Group (PWG), and Gajarla Ravi alias Ganesh, the North Telangana special zonal committee member. The three went on to lead the peace talks with the Andhra Pradesh government. On 11 October, 2004, Sudhakar had emerged with two other leaders of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), and two cadres of CPI (Marxist-Leninist)-Janashakti from the Nallamala forest, and addressed a public meeting at Guttikonda Bilam in then undivided Andhra Pradesh. New Delhi: The killing of 66-year-old Maoist leader Tentu Laxmi Narsimha Chalam, alias Goutham or Sudhakar, by security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur Thursday closes the chapter of the only—and unsuccessful—peace talks between the government and Maoists over 20 years ago. The CPI (Maoist) was formed with the merger of PWG with the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) in September 2004. After a few rounds of productive negotiations, the talks were called off by the Maoists in January 2005 on the grounds of continued operations by Andhra Pradesh's Greyhounds force against the group. The talks had been initiated after years of crackdown by the then N. Chandrababu Naidu-led government in Andhra Pradesh. Congress leader Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had promised the peace talks with Maoists if elected to power in the 2004 assembly elections. When he won, his government announced a ceasefire with the rebels in June 2004, initially for three months, and it was extended by another three months. Starting 12 October, 2004, the Maoist leaders were accommodated at Manjeera guesthouse in Hyderabad, and the first phase of talks went on from 15 to 18 October at Dr Marri Channa Reddy Human Resource Development Institute. The trio of Ramakrishna, Sudhakar and Ganesh, representing the Maoists, was in attendance. The CPI (ML)-Janashakti, another Andhra-based armed rebel group of Maoists, was represented by leaders Amar and Riyaz. During the 4-day talks, the state government and Maoist leaders held discussions on issues such as laying down of arms by the rebels, continuance of ceasefire as long as talks continued, distribution of surplus lands, release of political prisoners, withdrawal of cases against people involved in the revolutionary movement, ending of cash rewards on the heads of revolutionaries, action against private armed gangs, etc. However, there was no consensus on laying down of arms by the Maoists, and the talks were finally called off in January 2005 as the Maoists alleged continuation of crackdown by the state. Ramakrishna went on to become a member of both the central committee and politburo of the CPI (Maoist). He was reported to have died a natural death in the South Bastar region in October 2021, after escaping an October 2016 encounter with a joint team of the Andhra Pradesh Police's Greyhounds and Odisha Police in Malkangiri. Ganesh was killed in the same encounter. CPI (ML)-Janashakti cadre Riyaz was said to have been killed in an encounter by the Karimnagar district police, while Amar dissociated himself with the outfit after his arrest and was released on bail. On Thursday, Sudhakar, a member of the central committee of the CPI (Maoist), was identified as one of the casualties following exchange of fire in a search operation by a team of the Chhattisgarh District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force and troops from the CRPF's Commando Battalion for Resolute Action in Bijapur district. 'Reliable Intelligence inputs indicated the presence of Central Committee Member Gautam alias Sudhakar, along with Telangana State Committee Member Bandi Prakash, Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee Member Pappa Rao, and several other armed Maoist cadres in the area,' Bastar range IG Sundarraj Pattilingam said in a statement. 'In the ensuing exchange of fire, security forces recovered the body of a senior Maoist cadre along with an AK-47 rifle. The neutralised Maoist cadre has been identified as Central Committee Member Gautam alias Sudhakar,' it added. Also Read: Citing precedent, Bastar IG says CPI (Maoist) unlikely to get new gen secy after Basavaraju Ayurveda course dropout, Maoist ideologue Born into a rural family in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh before his father migrated to Eluru district, Sudhakar completed high school studies from his local block. He moved to Eluru town for intermediate education at Sir C.R. Reddy College. However, according to his records with the Andhra Pradesh Police, he did not pursue his ayurvedic medicine course entirely at a Vijayawada college and left it midway. He joined the People's War Group in 1995. Between 2001 and 2003, he worked extensively for the outfit as secretary of the Andhra-Odisha Border special zonal committee. In the same capacity, he attended the peace talks with the Andhra Pradesh government. He was inducted into the central committee of the CPI (Maoist) and was instrumental in running a Maoist ideological training school in 2007. Confirming his death in the Bijapur encounter, IG Sundarraj stated that Sudhakar had played a key role in luring tribal youths into the Maoist fold. 'Gautam was a senior Maoist leader responsible for various violent incidents that resulted in the deaths of numerous innocent tribal civilians and the martyrdom of security personnel. Moreover, as the in-charge of the Maoist ideological training school (RePOS), Gautam was involved in misleading and radicalising the youth with violent and anti-national ideologies,' he stated. Sudhakar was married to another senior Maoist cadre named Kakarala Guru Smruthi alias Umakka, who works as a state zonal committee member and allegedly runs Mobile Political School (MOPOS) of the Maoists. (Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui) Also Read: Abujhmarh op shut Basavaraju chapter of Maoist insurgency. How homegrown DRG gave forces edge
The Print
12 minutes ago
- The Print
26/11 Mumbai terror attack: Delhi court extends Tahawwur Rana's judicial custody till July 9
The judge, meanwhile, sought a status report from Tihar by June 9 on the health condition of Rana, after his lawyer raised concerns about his wellbeing. Special Judge Chander Jit Singh passed the order after Rana was produced before it through video conference after expiry of his judicial custody granted earlier. New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) A Delhi court on Friday extended the judicial custody of 26/11 Mumbai attack accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana till July 9. Rana, a close associate of 26/11 main conspirator David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen, was brought to India after the US Supreme Court on April 4 dismissed his review plea against his extradition to India. The court sent him to judicial custody last month. On November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage, carrying out a coordinated attack on a railway station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre, after they sneaked into India's financial capital using the sea route. As many as 166 people were killed in the nearly 60-hour assault. PTI UK DV DV This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
NDTV
14 minutes ago
- NDTV
How Thane Techie Spied For Pakistan's ISI, Shared Info On Indian Warships
Mumbai: A week after a 27-year-old man from Maharashtra was arrested in an alleged espionage case, it has now emerged how he spied for his Pakistani agents and the information that he shared with them. Ravi, a mechanical engineer based in Thane, had shared intelligence about Indian warships and submarines with his Pakistani handler. He had provided inputs about 14 Navy ships, out of which the inputs about five ships were accurate. For this, he received money from Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the police said. Ravi was "honey-trapped" by a Pakistani agent who had befriended him on Facebook, posing as a woman, officials had earlier said. He was found sharing sensitive information with the Pakistani operative through WhatsApp, officials said. Based on a tip-off, he was arrested on May 29 by the Thane unit of the Anti-Terrorism Squad. He has been charged with criminal conspiracy and relevant sections of the Official Secrets Act. Two others who were taken into custody along with him were left off after an inquiry. Indian agencies had heightened surveillance in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent India-Pakistan tensions. Over a dozen men and women have been arrested on charges of sharing sensitive information with Pakistani intelligence operatives. This includes two influencers, travel vlogger Jyoti Malhotra and YouTuber Jasbir Singh. Both had over a million subscribers on YouTube and had travelled to Pakistan multiple times. They are currently being probed. A student from Punjab and a security guard from Haryana are among others who face charges of leaking classified information across the border.
