Chandigarh:
Pakistani intelligence operators were developing Haryana youtuber jyoti malhotraWho was arrested on charges of espionage, as a property, the Haryana Police Officer claimed on Sunday.
The official said he was allegedly in touch with the Pakistani officer posted in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi during the four -day military conflict between India and Pakistan, which was after the April 22 terror attack in Pahgam.
Hisar Superintendent of Police Shashank Kumar Sawan said that Malhotra has no direct access to any information related to military or defense operations, which can be said at this level that it could share.
But she was directly in contact with PIOS, said that while addressing the Mediaperson in Hisar, Haryana.
“Surely, they were developing her as a property. He was in touch with other Youtube influencers. They were also in contact with PIOS,” SP said.
“This is also a (a type of) war, in which they try to advance their story by recruiting the affected,” he said.
Hisar-based Malhotra (33), who runs a Youtube channel, ‘Travel with Joe’, was arrested on Friday from the New Eggarasain Extension.
Police said they have been booked under the relevant sections of the official secrecy Act and the Judgment of India.
He was sent on a five -day police remand after being produced before the court on Saturday.
SP Sawan told reporters that Malhotra is being questioned by Haryana Police. He said, “We are analyzing her financial transactions, travel details, where she went and she met,” she said the police is in touch with central agencies.
The official said Malhotra was in touch with the PIO, and he once visited Pakistan and visited China.
When asked about any information about his movements during the initiative terror attack, and whether he was in contact with the Pakistani officer posted at the Pakistani High Commission during the operation vermilion, the SP said during the (India-Pakistan) struggle, “She was in contact with the PIO and the person who was declared a non-non-greta”.
“We will do a forensic analysis of his laptop and other electronic gadgets. It will then be clear what he shared,” he said. He said that she had no access to information about military operations, she was directly in touch with the PIO.
He said that many teams of financial experts were analyzing its financial transactions and travel details.
The official said she had gone to Pakistan to appear as a “sponsored journey”. In one of her videos, she was requesting a visa to go to China, she said.
The SP said that she went to Kashmir before the initiative and visited Pakistan before that, and said that the police is also trying to set up a “link” between these visits.
Sawan said she was allegedly in touch with other Youtube affected. “They were also in touch with the PIO,” he said.
“Through that, we are also investigating other Indian contacts. We have found some leads that may include something else.
The police is trying to see who is being provided with “information”, he said.
The Odisha Police has initiated an investigation into the alleged relations between the entire-based YouTuber and Jyoti Malhotra. The state police said on Sunday that Malhotra allegedly visited Puri in September 2024 and came in contact with a woman Utubar from the coastal city.
Asked about a video of Malhotra, in which he can be seen visiting the Pakistani Embassy on March 28, 2024, the SP said, “Socialization is allowed, but someone should understand their intentions. Pakistan is not a normal country for us.” He said, “To fulfill many trips, socialization with them and to stay in contact with them and exchange of favor, it endangers the unity and sovereignty of the country,” he said.
He said that Malhotra had allegedly met some high-profile people in Pakistan. He said, “Why did she meet him and shared what information she shared with her – all this would be asked,” she said that she has been on the radar of intelligence agencies for a long time.
The SP refused to share the details of any chat between Danish and Malhotra, saying that it was a sensitive case. “We are investigating the case from all angles,” he said.
Malhotra, who has 3.77 lakh customers and 1.33 lakh followers in the YouTube channel and Instagram account respectively, was allegedly in touch with Pakistani employee working in Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.
In 2023, Malhotra came into contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish in Pakistan’s High Commission, where she was looking for a visa to visit the neighboring nation.
Malhotra, who had visited Pakistan twice, met Ali Ahwan, an acquaintance of Danish, who arranged for stay there, read the cedar.
She met Danish several times at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi and found in contact with PIO, it was said. Ahwan arranged for Jyoti meeting with Pakistani security and intelligence officials. She was in touch with her through WhatsApp, Telegram and Snapchat, and, according to the FIR, passed on sensitive information.
On 13 May, India expelled a Pakistani officer working in the High Commission to allegedly indulge in espionage. Later on Friday, Malhotra was arrested in Hisar.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
