National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials questioned YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, arrested over espionage charge, on her alleged links with Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs), people familiar with the probe said on Monday, adding that her recent trips to Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and Dubai are also under the scanner.
The arrest follows a broader crackdown in the wake of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, and India’s retaliatory Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7. In total, 14 individuals across several northern states have been detained over the last two weeks for allegedly leaking sensitive information to Pakistan.
According to senior officials, Malhotra, 33, a resident of Hisar in Haryana and creator of the YouTube channel Travel with JO with over 377,000 subscribers, began traveling abroad after obtaining a passport in 2018. She is believed to have visited multiple countries, including Pakistan multiple times.
A Home Ministry official said Malhotra came in contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a Pakistani officer at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, in 2023 while applying for a visa. Danish, now declared persona non grata by India, allegedly introduced her to other Pakistani intelligence personnel including Ali Ahwan, Shakir, and Rana Shahbaz. FIR details suggest she saved Shakir’s contact as “Jatt Randhawa” to avoid suspicion.
Investigators allege Malhotra continued communication with these operatives via encrypted messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat, and met with Danish multiple times in Delhi. She is suspected of being part of a broader espionage network involving operatives, informants, and funders across Haryana and Punjab. Her exact access to classified Indian military or strategic data, however, remains under investigation.
Authorities are now examining whether Malhotra’s travel to China and other countries was connected to her alleged espionage activities. The Ministry of Home Affairs is considering handing the case over entirely to the NIA for a full-scale probe into a larger network involving Indian influencers being targeted by Pakistani intelligence for propaganda and intelligence gathering.
In related operations, arrests continue across North India. Four individuals were detained on Monday—two in Gurdaspur, Punjab; one in Nuh, Haryana; and another in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. The Punjab Police recovered mobile devices and ammunition, with two suspects reportedly sharing troop movement and Operation Sindoor details with Pakistan’s ISI.
In Nuh, Haryana, local quack Mohammad Tarif allegedly admitted to passing a SIM card to a Pakistan High Commission staffer and leaking military information. Meanwhile, in Rampur, ISI agent Shahzad Wahab was arrested after allegedly recruiting 20 individuals, including three women, to spy for Pakistan.
Police in Odisha have also opened a preliminary inquiry into Puri-based YouTuber Priyanka Senapati (21), said to be linked with Malhotra. Authorities have so far found no incriminating evidence.
