Jyoti Malhotra Not Alone, 3 Others From Haryana Aided Pakistan's ISI During Blackouts: Report
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Three others, barring Jyoti Malhotra, were arrested from the state of Haryana during blackouts declared amid the recent conflict between India and Pakistan.
Along with Jyoti Malhotra, who hails from Haryana's Hisar district, three others from the same state have been arrested for spying for Pakistan. A security guard from Panipat and two others from Kaithal and Nuh's Rajaka village were arrested along with the YouTuber who were in touch with Pakistani handlers when authorities had imposed blackouts during the conflict between India and Pakistan earlier this month.
A report by the Times of India said that even on May 6, just a day before Operation Sindoor, Malhotra had travelled to New Delhi and remained in contact with her handler Danish, a staffer at the Pakistan High Commission, as well as others over the next few days and that the same pattern was seen with the other accused.
Since May 13, Haryana Police have arrested four individuals. Nauman Elahi from Uttar Pradesh who worked as a guard in Panipat, Devender Singh Dhillon from Kaithal, Jyoti Malhotra from Hisar and Arman from Rajaka village in Nuh have been arrested for aiding Pakistani intelligence agencies. They are being questioned by multiple agencies. All four are accused of spying for Pakistani handlers and passing on sensitive information about key installations.
Pakistan intervened on behalf of the terrorists following Operation Sindoor – an ongoing counter-terror operation launched initially to avenge the killings of 26 innocent civilians in Pahalgam – and assumed an aggressive military posture and sent UAVs and drones and engaged in incessant cross-border firing and shelling. The Pakistani Army retreated and urged ceasefire after India struck 11 of its airbases.
Hisar, Panchkula, Ambala and Panipat authorities had imposed blackouts as Indian air defences neutralised Pakistani drone swarms.
The report also said that Jyoti Malhotra's income appeared disproportionate to the kind of travel she undertook. It pointed out that some of her foreign trips may have been sponsored. Haryana's Hisar's top police official Shashank Sawan told the newspaper that Jyoti was on the radar of central agencies for some time along with another YouTuber from Odisha.
The report said that another accused, Arman, was in contact with Pakistani handlers through a known terrorist. He had allegedly procured Indian SIM cards using his own documents and passed them to Pakistani intelligence operatives. The report also said that Arman attended a defence expo and shared details from the event. Arman, a Class XII dropout in his early twenties, often carried a bag and claimed he was job-hunting in Delhi. He was picked up from Firozpur Jhirka on the night of May 15.
First Published:
May 19, 2025, 19:01 IST
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