Haryana Travel Blogger Arrested on Charges of Spying for Pakistan

In a significant crackdown on espionage operations, Haryana Police have arrested six people, including a Hisar-based YouTuber and travel influencer Jyoti Malhotra, for allegedly spying and sharing secret information with Pakistani agents, the authorities confirmed on Saturday.

The arrests are the latest major development in the region in a week, after Punjab Police detained recently two suspected espionage agents linked to the Pakistan High Commission, even as India and Pakistan have reconfirmed a ceasefire arrangement.

Malhotra, who is said to have visited Pakistan on two occasions in 2023, has been sent to police custody for five days. It is suspected that she forms part of a larger espionage network working in Haryana and Punjab.

Police official Vikas Kumar said that she is being interrogated to gather more information about her involvement in the alleged espionage.

As per the first information report (FIR), Malhotra had met the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi last year. It was during the visit that she is said to have met Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, who works at the mission.

She is charged with giving a good impression about Pakistan on her social media platforms while at the same time sending sensitive information pertaining to Indian strategic points.

The government of India declared him persona non grata and sent him away on May 13. He is reported to have arranged her contacts with various Pakistani intelligence operatives.

Investigative sources also went on to reveal that Malhotra developed a personal relationship with one of the operatives and even accompanied him to Bali, Indonesia. While Danish was in Delhi, she was said to be in touch with him constantly. On visits to Pakistan, she was said to have met up with intelligence officials and started sharing classified information about Indian military movement and bases.

The suspect is said to have made use of encrypted messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat to exchange messages, and hidden her contacts from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with pseudonyms in her phone.

Malhotra, owner of the YouTube channel Travel with Jo, has been booked under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The case was registered by Sub-Inspector Bijender Singh at Civil Lines Police Station in Hisar.

Another person arrested in the same case is Devender Dhillon, who is from Kaithal district. He has been accused of sharing strategic information, including information about a military operation called Operation Sindoor.

Punjab Police also arrested two people in a different espionage case with the connections to a Pakistan High Commission official in Delhi earlier this week. The arrested people are identified as Gazala and Yameen Mohamad, who are residents of Malerkotla, Punjab. Two mobile phones were confiscated from them during the operation.

In a similar development, Amritsar (Rural) Police earlier arrested Falaksher Masih and Suraj Masih on the charge of leaking sensitive information and photographs of army camps and airfields to Pakistan's intelligence agency.

Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav revealed that preliminary investigations have shown that the accused used to receive money through online transfers in exchange for sensitive information. They had reportedly stayed in constant touch with their handlers and routed financial transactions to other local operatives upon instructions.

"This operation is a major milestone in disarming cross-border espionage networks and reaffirms the determination towards national security," Yadav added.

Senior Superintendent of Police Gagan Ajit Singh added that an information tip resulted in the arrest of Gazala, who was discovered passing on intelligence about Indian Army movements to a handler based in Pakistan. Her interrogation resulted in the detection and arrest of Yameen Mohamad.

Gazala is said to have confessed, with it being reported that she received ₹30,000 through two successive UPI transactions — ₹10,000 and ₹20,000 — in return for her service, as per the police.