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News18
27-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra Was In Contact With 4 Pakistani Intelligence Operatives: Reports
Last Updated: Forensic analysis revealed that YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra was in direct contact with at least four Pakistani intelligence operatives, and was fully aware of their roles. Arrested YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra was reportedly in contact with at least four Pakistani operatives, knowing their individual positions and considerable influence and links to intelligence networks. As she was remanded to an extended judicial custody on May 26, the police said they had recovered nearly 12 terabytes (TB) of data from Jyoti Malhotra's phones and laptops. The barrage of data is in the form of videos, photos, her chat records, transaction details, and more. A report with the Hindustan Times claims that, as per the forensic report in connection with Jyoti Malhotra's case, she was in direct contact with at least four Pakistani intelligence operatives, who aided her with special treatment during her trip to the neighbouring country. The entire barrage of data was yet to be examined, and the police did not reveal the names of the four Pakistani operatives said to be in touch with Jyoti Malhotra. Other reports suggested that Jyoti Malhotra's chat records revealed she used to communicate with everyone personally and had no involvement in any groups, suggesting an effort to keep her conversations secret. A Haryana court on May 26 remanded Jyoti Malhotra to judicial custody after the end of her police remand in a case of alleged espionage. The 33-year-old travel influencer was produced in court. A police spokesperson said that they did not seek her further remand, after which the court sent her to jail. Jyoti Malhotra was among the 12 people arrested from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh over the past three weeks on suspicion of espionage, with investigators suspecting the presence of a Pakistan-linked spy network operating in northern India. The Hisar native ran a YouTube channel — 'Travel with JO". She was arrested at the New Aggarsain Extension on May 17 and was booked under provisions of the Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Amid investigations, the Hisar Police said they had no evidence to indicate that Jyoti Malhotra had access to any military or defence-related information. But she was definitely in contact with some people, knowing that they were Pakistani intelligence operatives, they said. Police sources had said she was in touch with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a staffer at the Pakistani High Commission, since November 2023, and also during India's 'Operation Sindoor' India expelled Danish on May 13 for allegedly indulging in espionage. The National Investigation Agency, the Intelligence Bureau, and military intelligence officials have also questioned Jyoti Malhotra. Investigations have revealed that she visited Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, and some other countries.
India.com
26-05-2025
- India.com
Jyoti Malhotra Espionage Case: Haryana Police Share Fresh Details, Suspicious Money Trail, ISI Links
Haryana Police on Monday shared fresh details in the alleged espionage case related to YouTuber and travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra. She is accused of spying for Pakistan. According to the police, Jyoti knowingly cooperated with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to keep getting facilities. Police added that digital evidence found against her is so strong that a case can be made against her under several sections. 'Jyoti knowingly cooperated in ISI's plan so that she could keep getting facilities. She was given VIP treatment, which is ISI's common way of luring social media influencers. The digital evidence of Jyoti found by Hisar police is so strong that a case can be made against her under several sections,' Hisar Police said. Police added that the investigation of Jyoti's digital forensic data has revealed a suspicious money trail in her account. 'Police have recovered 12TB of digital forensic data from Jyoti's mobile and laptop. Initial data has revealed a suspicious money trail in Jyoti's accounts,' Hisar Police said. Authorities have ruled out her access to sensitive and classified information and are currently investigating the sources of funds she received. 'Her arrest was timely, which averted a major national security crisis. Indian agencies were keeping an eye on her since the time of her first visit to Pakistan. So far Police have not found any evidence of leakage of highly sensitive information. Police are also investigating the source of funds received by Jyoti,' Hisar Police said. Police registered a case and arrested Jyoti Malhotra, daughter of Harish Malhotra, under 152BNs and the Official Secrets Act on May 15. She was produced in court today and sent to 14-day judicial custody by a local court in Haryana's Hisar. She is one of the 12 people arrested so far for allegedly spying for the neighbouring country. Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a CRPF trooper from Delhi for sharing sensitive information with Pakistani Intelligence officers.
News18
26-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
News18 Evening Digest: Jyoti Malhotra's Custody Extended, Covid-19 India Update & Other Top Stories
Last Updated: In today's evening digest, News18 brings latest updates on Jyoti Malhotra's spying case, Covid-19 cases in India, and other top stories. News18 Evening Digest: In today's evening digest, News18 brings latest updates on Jyoti Malhotra's spying case, Covid-19 cases in India, and other top stories. Jyoti Malhotra, Accused Of 'Spying For Pakistan', Sent To 14-Day Police Custody In Hisar In a significant development into the spying for Pakistan case, accused spy Jyoti Malhotra has been sent to 14-day police custody in Haryana's Hisar. The Hisar Police has recovered the meta data from Malhotra's mobile phone. After going through the data dump, cops will ask for further custody of the alleged spy. Read more Delhi reported at least 104 Covid-19 cases during the last week, while Kerala and Maharashtra have logged 430 and 209 new cases respectively in the same period, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. A total of 1,009 active cases have been reported from across India, including 12 in West Bengal, 13 in Rajasthan, 15 in Uttar Pradesh, 69 in Tamil Nadu, 47 in Karnataka and 83 in Gujarat. Read more The first visuals of the chiefs of the Indian Army, Air Force, and Navy leading 'Operation Sindoor' on May 7 have been shared by the Indian Army's Headquarters (IHQ) Ops Room. Read more Did French President Macron Get Slapped By Wife Brigitte? Aircraft Video Goes Viral A video showing French President Emmanuel Macron's wife, Brigitte, seemingly slapping him before stepping off the plane in Vietnam has gone viral on social media. Macron arrived in Hanoi on Sunday evening to start his Southeast Asia tour. However, the diplomatic mission was overshadowed by apparent 'bickering' between the couple. Read more First Published: May 26, 2025, 18:23 IST
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- The Hindu
Jyoti Rani: The vlogger who is being called a spy
On her YouTube channel, 'Travel With JO', Jyoti Rani describes herself as a 'Nomadic Leo Girl', 'Wanderer Haryanvi+Punjabi', and 'a modern girl with old fashioned ideas'. Nationally, she is now known as the woman who has been arrested on charges of espionage by the Hisar Police. Jyoti, a 34-year-old vlogger, has more than 480 videos on her channel and 3.97 lakh subscribers. Shot in different parts of India, her videos show her interacting with locals and providing travel and food recommendations. Some of her videos have also been shot in other countries, including Indonesia, Bhutan, China, and Pakistan. But in Haryana's Hisar district, there is little proof of the adventurous life that Jyoti has led so far, or of the fame she enjoys online. Jyoti lives with her father Harish Kumar (58) and uncle Khushal Chand (65) in New Agarsen Extension area, a noisy neighbourhood inhabited mostly by retired government employees, businessmen, and ex-servicemen. Inside her cluttered and poorly lit bedroom in the 500 square feet house, paint is peeling off the walls. A framed poster of the popular American television sitcom, Friends, hangs from one wall. Another poster next to it reads, 'Peene Ke Hai Chaar Din (There are only four days to drink)'. There are also garlanded photos of her grandparents. Neighbours say they barely know Jyoti. Savitri, who lives next door, says, 'Jyoti mostly stayed outside this house. We saw her once in six months on the terrace. Since there were no women in the house, we didn't interact with them.' Virender Narwal, another neighbour, says he learned about Jyoti's arrest through his relative who called him after watching the news on television. 'The family mostly stays indoors,' he says. On May 16, the Hisar Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Jyoti under Sections 3 and 5 (penalties for spying; and wrongful communication of information) of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 (criminalises actions that endanger the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2024. Since then, the number of subscribers on Jyoti's YouTube channel has gone up by 16,000. Journey to Pakistan It was Jyoti's videos from Pakistan that brought her under the official radar, according to the police. Jyoti's most popular video from the neighbouring country is titled 'Indian girl in Pakistan – Wagah Border to Panja Sahib via Lahore'. Posted in April last year, it has 1.3 crore views and over 1.10 lakh 'likes'. In another video, also posted last year, Jyoti is seen attending an Iftar party at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi. It mentions that she was invited by the Embassy a year ago. Jyoti's alleged closeness to officials of the Pakistan High Commission, sponsored visits to the country, and her presence at social gatherings in Pakistan attended by that country's elite all raised eyebrows in India. The Hisar Police believe that Jyoti was lured by the Pakistani intelligence with money, a luxurious lifestyle, and the prospect of establishing high-profile connections. Hisar Superintendent of Police, Shashank Kumar Sawan, who is overseeing the investigation, says Jyoti was on the radar of the central agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), for a long time before her arrest. 'Her travels led investigation agencies to suspect that she was being groomed as an asset by intelligence operatives in Pakistan,' he says. 'We are investigating why she met them and what information was shared with them. The Pakistan intelligence officials were trying to reach out to other YouTube influencers through her.' Shashank adds that Jyoti visited Pakistan as well as Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir before terrorists killed 26 tourists on April 22 at Baisaran valley. The attack led to an escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan. 'We are trying to find out whether there are links between her visits and the attack,' he says. However, the police say since Jyoti did not have any direct access to sensitive information related to defence and the military, there is no evidence yet to suggest that she shared secret details with Pakistani intelligence officials. They also admit that there is no evidence of her being in contact with any terrorist organisation. The police's suspicions about Jyoti also seem to stem from Hisar's strategic location — the district, situated around 160 kilometres west of Delhi, has a military cantonment and an airport. Significantly, the Sirsa Air Force Base lies one and a half hours away from Hisar by road. 'So any small piece of information shared by Jyoti with the Pakistani officials could be of significance to them,' says Shashank. The police expect the forensic examination report of her mobile phones and laptops to throw more light on the 'nature of the information shared by her with Pakistani intelligence officials'. The reel and the real During Partition, Jyoti's family came to India from Multan in Pakistan and settled in Faridkot in Punjab, says Harish. Later, they moved to Hisar. Harish divorced his wife when Jyoti was a teenager. Khushal Chand, who retired as a foreman from the Haryana Electricity Board, also divorced his wife 10 years ago and moved in with Harish and Jyoti. Jyoti graduated with a degree in the arts from Hisar's Fateh Chand College for Women. Harish, who polishes furniture for a living, says though a good student, Jyoti was reluctant to pursue higher education. She worked as a receptionist at a coaching institute and a teacher at a primary school in the neighbourhood before moving to Delhi in search of better opportunities. Harish, a school dropout, claims that he knew nothing about his daughter's job in Delhi apart from the fact she earned ₹15,000-16,000 a month. He says he mostly stays at home due to his failing health and survives on his brother's pension of ₹20,000. When Jyoti lost her job during the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown, she returned to her father and uncle. She told her father that she wanted to make 'reels' and asked him to buy her a laptop. He bought her one for ₹1 lakh, he says. Harish says whenever Jyoti was at home, she would be busy editing 'reels'. 'But she hardly stayed with us in Hisar. She would tell me that she was going to Delhi and would return after a few days or even weeks. None of her friends came home. I had no idea that she had been to Pakistan or any other country for that matter,' he adds. Harish also claims he had no idea what she was posting online. 'I have a basic phone. I didn't know what she was doing until the police reached our doorstep on May 15,' he says. That morning, half a dozen police personnel, including two women, barged into the house and headed straight to Jyoti's room. Harish watched in shock as they left with his daughter, her laptop, and their mobile phones half an hour later. Jyoti returned home late that evening, but did not say a word. 'She ate, brushed her teeth, and went to sleep. The next morning, she went to the police station on her scooter. Then the police returned in the early hours of Saturday (May 17) and took away her passport,' he says in a seemingly well-rehearsed manner, as he has recalled the events of that day several times to the TV reporters who have been thronging his house. Harish also complains about the unwanted attention. He says, 'These journalists have made me ill. I don't get time to eat. I can't sleep. I have a fever too.' A bottle of syrup to treat indigestion and gastric troubles lies at his bedside. Joining the dots The FIR registered on May 16 states that Jyoti met Ehsan-Ur-Rahim alias Danish, an official at the Pakistan High Commission, in 2023 when she went to the Commission seeking a visa. The two of them stayed in touch over the phone. Jyoti later visited Pakistan twice. There she met Danish's acquaintance Ali Ahwan, who arranged for her stay and travel in the country. Ali introduced her to two men — Shakir and Rana Shabaz. Jyoti stored Shakir's mobile number under the name Jat Randhawa. 'She stayed in touch with these Pakistani nationals over WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Telegram and shared anti-national details with them. She also met Danish several times. She was found in touch with Pakistan intelligence operatives,' reads the FIR. The police have also detained for questioning Harkirat Singh, a resident of Ajrana village in Haryana's Kurukshetra district, who works at a gurdwara. They suspect that he introduced Jyoti to Danish. The Pakistani official has since been declared persona non-grata by the Indian External Affairs Ministry and told to leave the country. Harish has not met Jyoti since her arrest and refuses to believe what the police and media are saying. 'I met her briefly when I went to hand over a photocopy of her Aadhaar card after her arrest. She said she was fine and would return home soon,' he says. He wants to hire a lawyer but has no idea how to go about it. 'How much do they charge? ₹20,000 or ₹50,000?' Lawyers say they have not taken up her case in the fear of being labelled 'anti-national' for representing a 'spy'. A Hisar court has appointed a government lawyer to represent Jyoti. On May 22, the court extended Jyoti's police remand by four days. Casting the net wider With the police widening their investigation, other social media content creators and travel vloggers have come under the scanner. Following a review meeting with the Chief Minister Nayab Saini on May 20, Haryana Home Secretary Sumita Mishra said, 'There was a discussion regarding Pakistan-backed operatives in the meeting. This action is not over and will continue. More YouTube channels in Haryana are being probed. We have special cells to monitor social media. Action is being taken against sleeper cells that have links with Pakistan.' Besides Jyoti, the Haryana Police have arrested two youth from Nuh and one each from Kaithal and Panipat on charges of spying and endangering the sovereignty, integrity and unity of the country. Odisha-based YouTuber Priyanka Senapati, also known for her travel videos, is being investigated in the case. The Puri Police in Odisha say they are examining the financial transactions 'of all family members of the woman who came in contact with Malhotra (Jyoti Rani)'. Though the police are yet to find any evidence to suggest that Jyoti has access to any sensitive information or terror links, Shashank says social media influencers could play a pivotal role in creating a narrative that favours Pakistan and counters the Indian government's stand. One of Jyoti's live videos, 'My views on Pahalgam Kashmir', streamed three weeks ago, garnered around 80,000 views. While calling for Hindu-Muslim unity and criticising terrorism, Jyoti stopped short of blaming Pakistan for the attack. 'We should not blame any country or Kashmiris for this... terrorist organisations should be condemned... not any particular religion and any particular country... if anyone has supported those terrorists, we are responsible and our government is responsible because there was a security lapse,' she said in the live video. Navneet Rajan Wasan, former Special Director, NIA, says public opinion holds significance when two nations are 'at war' and that the 'subtle' messaging by social media influencers can help create a narrative in favour of or against governments. 'Spreading a narrative which is against the government's official position could harm our interests,' he says. Navneet has decades of experience in investigating terror cases. He says social media influencers, like 'sleeper cells', may not even be aware that they are being exploited by their handlers to propagate a narrative against their own country. Experts say social media content creators could also be helping handlers by vlogging near key infrastructure, such as metro stations and military locations; setting up honey traps or befriending people in sensitive jobs; and posting geo-tagged pictures. Haryana-based freelance journalist Mandeep Punia, who was arrested by the Delhi Police during the farmers' agitation in 2020-21, says Jyoti is being targeted without any evidence. On a post on X, he wrote: 'People nowadays insist on creating narratives instead of presenting facts, so even progressive accounts are getting caught in this. This woman will be acquitted in the end, but she would have suffered a lot by then. Jyoti Malhotra is one name being highlighted a lot, but here in Haryana, Punjab, people are being arrested in every district by calling them spies. Don't get caught in the trap of creating narratives. Stick to the facts. Many people from Haryana, Punjab used to go to Pakistan for a visit. There was peace between the two countries then. Now the same people are being made scapegoats.'
Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Indian Express
Known social media face but a stranger at home: Who is Jyoti Malhotra, arrested for espionage
She was the girl who travelled – across India, Bhutan, Thailand, Pakistan, Nepal, Indonesia and China – and documented it. Her social media posts filled with everyday minutiae, from travel tips to the food she ate, Jyoti Malhotra's 'Travel with Jo' had over 3,77,000 subscribers and an Instagram account with over 1,32,000 followers. Yet, in New Aggarsain Colony Extension, a quiet neighbourhood on the outskirts of Hisar in Haryana, her name barely elicits a reaction. Last week, Jyoti was arrested on charges of espionage. The Hisar Police, which is investigating the case, has alleged that she was found sharing 'sensitive information' with an official of the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi. 'We don't know much about her. We heard about her having a YouTube channel only after she came in the news,' says a neighbour, Seema. 'Everyone in this colony mostly keeps to themselves, she wasn't any different,' says another resident. 'She rarely came up to people and greeted them.' Jyoti has been charged under Section 152 (acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and under various sections of the Officials Secrets Act. On LinkedIn, Jyoti describes herself as 'a blogger in saree'. The description reads: 'From her youth, she always wanted to explore and developed a soul of a wanderer. Her passion of travel is also her profession now and she travels and shares her experiences as a travel blogger which are liked around the world and followed by travellers visiting her suggested locations. Among her fans and followers, she is known as a Saree Gal – A blogger in saree.' Jyoti's vlogging began with a trip to Manali, Himachal Pradesh, on August 7, 2019. The description of the video reads: 'Hi friends. Sat Shri Akaal. I am new on YouTube'. Although that video has only 10,000 views, her channel began picking up over the next few years, attracting sponsors — from state tourism departments, visa apps and ticket booking sites to fashion and skincare products – and even reaching a milestone of 100,000 subscribers in March last year, a feat that secured her the YouTube Silver Play button. In her videos, she would refer to her viewers as 'Jo Family' and would have conversations with locals – from the salesperson in a local departmental store in Bali, Indonesia, to a juice vendor in Lahore. Over the last two years, she uploaded 264 videos, including of her trips to Thailand (October 2024), Dubai (December 2024) and Kerala (January this year). Her Kerala trip shows her on board the Vande Bharat during its trial run between Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod. But it was her two visits to Pakistan – the first in April 2024, when she took a train from Wagah to Lahore, and the other in March this year, over a month before the Pahalgam terror attack – that brought her under official scrutiny, and led to her arrest. According to the police, she allegedly told them that it was in 2023, during a visit to the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi for a travel visa, that she met Ahsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a now-expelled official at the commission. Danish was declared persona non-grata and expelled from India on May 13 after he was accused of spying. 'I had taken Ahsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish's mobile number… and then I started talking to Ahsan… After that I traveled to Pakistan twice where I met Ahsan's acquaintance Ali Ahwan on the advice of Ahsan-ur-Rahim. Ali Ahwan made arrangements for my stay and travel. In Pakistan, Ali Ahwan arranged my meeting with Pakistani security and intelligence officials…,' the initial complaint quotes her as saying, adding that she kept in 'constant touch' with the Pakistani officials after she returned. Her videos from Pakistan – which are accompanied by a link to the high commission's website – have secured her the most engagement: 12 million views for her train video and 1.2 million views for a March 19 video of her exploring Lahore's markets. On March 22, she uploaded a video of her attending an Iftar party at the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi that got her 4,23,000 views. At her home, from where police arrested her on April 16, Jyoti's father Harish Malhotra, 58, a carpenter who stopped working during the pandemic following ill-health, says that while he knew about Jyoti's travel vlogs, he had no idea how she earned her living. 'She started making videos after the lockdown. When she wasn't travelling, she was at home editing videos. I never asked her what she was making. She never shared or invited me on her trips. I did not know she had started making money from her videos, and never asked her to contribute to the household expenses,' says her father. Jyoti, an only child, grew up with her father and paternal grandparents after her parents separated when she was six years old. With her grandparents having passed away a few years ago, she lived with her father and his younger brother Khushal, now in his 50s, in Hisar. Harish's illnesses, of which he refuses to disclose details, require regular medication, he says, adding that the family's sole source of income is the monthly pension of around Rs 25,000 that Khushal gets from the state electricity department from where he retired. 'Every month, Jyoti would withdraw money from my brother's account and give it to the family,' Harish says. A student of Hisar's Vivekanand High School, Jyoti secured a BA degree from Fateh Chand College, Hisar, and an degree from Kurukshetra University in 2016 before eventually moving to Delhi to work for a garments and apparel export company as a senior merchandiser. Her teachers at Vivekanand High School describe her as 'sharp girl with a rebellious streak'. 'She was very intelligent… She was also straightforward while dealing with people. If anyone took her place in class, she was not one to just quietly let it slip. She would make her displeasure known,' says Sunita Sharma, a coordinator and teacher at the school for over 30 years. Principal A K Sharma says he lost touch with Jyoti after she cleared her Class 10 in 2006. 'Her parents never came to school for anything. It was always her bua (paternal aunt),' he says, adding that it was only through news channels that he knew of Jyoti's vlog. Less than a week after the initial police complaint, Hisar Superintendent of Police Shashank Kumar Siwan, who is overseeing the investigation, now believes she may not be the 'super spy' she was portrayed as. 'Offences were definitely committed. But it's not what is being shown in the media. She is not some super spy, nor did she infiltrate our strategic operations. So far, no vital information about our military or intelligence appears to have been shared by her with the Pakistanis,' he says, adding that the investigation is ongoing. She has also been questioned by central agencies. SP Siwan says investigators are now looking into Jyoti's finances – including her stays at five-star hotels. At the same time, investigators are also looking into her collaborations with other YouTubers, including one based in Odisha, although no arrests have been made so far. 'Her videos of Kerala, she claims, were sponsored by the tourism department but we will have to check,' the SP says.
