NIA and IB Probe YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra’s Links to Pakistani Intelligence Amid Espionage Arrests

NIA and IB Probe YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra’s Links to Pakistani Intelligence Amid Espionage Arrests

Last Updated May - 20 - 2025, 05:18 PM | Source : Fela News

The NIA and IB are investigating YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra for alleged ties with Pakistani intelligence operatives, scrutinizing her international travels. Fourte

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) questioned YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, arrested on espionage charges, about her alleged connections with Pakistani Intelligence operatives, sources said on Monday. Officials are also scrutinizing her recent travels to Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, and Dubai. Over the past two weeks, 14 people across northern India, including four arrested in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh in the last 24 hours, are accused of sharing sensitive information with Pakistani agents.

Hisar SP Shashank Kumar Sawan confirmed NIA’s interrogation of Malhotra, but the agency declined to comment. Besides NIA, IB and other central agencies have questioned her. Investigators revealed she obtained her passport in 2018, valid until 2028, and traveled to multiple countries, with particular focus on Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, and Dubai.

An officer noted that the Ministry of Home Affairs might transfer the case to a federal anti-terror agency to investigate a broader conspiracy involving Pakistani High Commission officials and persons of Indian origin using Indian influencers for propaganda and intelligence gathering.

Malhotra, a 33-year-old from Hisar with a substantial social media following, reportedly contacted Pakistani officer Ehsan-ur-Rahim, aka Danish, stationed at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi in 2023 while applying for a visa. Danish introduced her to Ali Ahwan and Pakistani security officials Shakir and Rana Shahbaz. She allegedly saved Shakir’s contact as ‘Jatt Randhawa’ to avoid detection. After returning to India, she maintained communication via encrypted apps and met Danish several times.

The FIR alleges Malhotra is part of a larger espionage network across Haryana and Punjab, involving agents, informants, and financial handlers. It remains unclear if she accessed sensitive military or strategic information.

On Monday, four more arrests were made in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh for leaking classified details to Pakistani operatives, bringing total arrests to 14—eight in Punjab, five in Haryana, and one in UP—in ongoing counter-espionage actions following the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s Operation Sindoor against terror targets in Pakistan and PoK.

Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav reported the arrest of Sukhpreet Singh and Karanbir Singh from Gurdaspur for sharing classified information about Operation Sindoor with Pakistan’s ISI. Police recovered mobile phones and live ammunition from them. Intelligence indicated they shared troop movements and strategic location details in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir with the ISI.

In Haryana, Mohammad Tarif, a quack from Kangarka village, Nuh district, was arrested for leaking military intelligence to Pakistan and reportedly confessed to providing a SIM card to a Pakistan High Commission employee and visiting Pakistan.

Additionally, in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, ISI agent Shahzad Wahab was arrested. He allegedly recruited 20 spies, including three women, funding their activities as directed by ISI handlers.

In Odisha, authorities are investigating YouTuber Priyanka Senapati from Puri for links with Malhotra but have found no suspicious activity so far.

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