The National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and military intelligence officials are questioning Haryana , who was arrested recently on charges of spying for Pakistan, police said on Tuesday.
A probe into the YouTuber’s financial transactions and travel details is also underway, they said.
Hisar-based Jyoti (33), who ran the YouTube channel ‘Travel with JO’, was arrested from the New Aggarsain Extension on 16 May, and booked under relevant sections of the Official Secrets Act and the BNS, police said. Jyoti was among 12 people arrested from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh over the past two weeks on charges of espionage, with investigators pointing at an alleged Pakistan-linked spy network operating in north India.
A senior Haryana Police officer in Hisar said the Central agencies and military intelligence officials are also probing her travel details, as she had reportedly visited Pakistan, China and some other countries.
An attempt is being made to create a complete chain of events to see which countries she visited and in what sequence, the officer said.
Earlier, police said her known sources of income did not justify her travels abroad, adding that her financial transactions were also under the scanner.
A forensic analysis of Jyoti’s laptop is underway, police said, adding that they would also question those who were in touch with the YouTuber.
On Sunday, Hisar SP Shashank Kumar Sawan said Pakistani intelligence operatives were developing Jyoti as an “asset”. She was allegedly in touch with a Pakistani official posted in the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi during the four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan that followed the 22 April , the SP said.
Sawan said while Jyoti did not have direct access to any information related to the military operations, she was directly in touch with Pakistani intelligence operatives (PIOs). “This is modern warfare that is not just fought on the borders. We came across a new modus operandi wherein PIOs were trying to recruit some social media influencers,” the SP said.
Sawan also said Jyoti went to Kashmir before the Pahalgam attack and visited Pakistan before that, and police are trying to establish the “links” between these visits.
Jyoti, whose YouTube channel at present has 3.87 lakh subscribers, came in contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish at the Pakistan High Commission in 2023, when she went there seeking a visa to visit the neighbouring country. On 13 May this year, India expelled Ehsan for allegedly indulging in espionage.
Police investigations have revealed that Guzala (31), who Punjab Police arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan from Malerkotla district, came in contact with Ehsan in February. She, too, met him at the Pakistan High Commission while seeking a visa to visit the neighbouring country, police said.
Police arrested Guzala and Yameen Mohamad, both residents of Malerkotla, on 11 May for their alleged role in leaking sensitive information and photographs of Army cantonment areas and airbases to Pakistan’s intelligence agency.
The accused reportedly received payments online in exchange for sharing classified information, police said.
Meanwhile, the family of Sukhpreet Singh, who was arrested in Punjab’s Gurdaspur on Monday for allegedly leaking critical information concerning the Indian armed forces to Pakistan, claimed that he could not do such a thing.
In a related development, Odisha Police on Sunday started an investigation into the alleged links between a Puri-based YouTuber and Jyoti Malhotra. The police found that Malhotra had visited Puri in September 2024 and came in contact with a woman in the coastal town, who is also a YouTuber, Puri SP Vinit Agrawal said.
“We found that Jyoti Malhotra had visited Puri last year, and we are verifying the fact. Anything more can be shared after the verification,” Agrawal said.
Asked whether the woman from Puri had shared intelligence inputs with Malhotra, Agrawal said, “The Haryana Police are investigating the matter and we are providing them the required assistance.”
The police are also "examining the objective" of Malhotra's visit to Puri, and trying to find out "where she stayed, whom she contacted and any possible suspicious activities", the Puri SP said. “We are in touch with various central agencies and the Haryana Police. We will share details with the media after field verification,” he said while responding to queries from reporters.
The Odisha Police did not disclose the identity of the Puri YouTuber, though her father said the police had quizzed his daughter on Saturday and sought some information. A team of police personnel visited the woman's residence in Puri for an investigation into the matter.
"My daughter came in contact with Jyoti Malhotra as both are YouTubers. As a friendship developed between them, Malhotra visited Puri. As it is a matter of the nation’s security, a proper investigation should be carried out. We will cooperate with the police,” he said.
“My daughter visited Kartarpur in Pakistan with another friend, not Malhotra, three or four months ago for a pilgrimage. My daughter has no involvement in anti-national activities and was unaware of Malhotra's alleged espionage,” the YouTuber’s father said.
In a social media post, the woman from Puri wrote , “Jyoti was just a friend of mine, and I came in contact with her through YouTube. I was unaware of anything which she is accused of. I would not have been in touch with her if I knew she was spying for (the) enemy Pakistan. If any investigative agency wishes to cross-question, I would provide full cooperation. Nation is above all. Jai Hind.”
Curated from PTI inputs
-
Whatsapp rolls out its biggest privacy campaign across 16 states, including delhi; Features This Bollywood Star … | Technology news
-
49ers Sign Fred Warner to Historic $63 Million Extension
-
Rayan Cherki set for first senior France call-up
-
‘Italian youth academies should learn from Barcelona’
-
Manchester City vs Bournemouth LIVE score: Premier League updates; De Bruyne plays last home game; Rodri in squad
