YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, 11 others arrested so far in Pakistan ‘spy’ probe

At least 12 individuals, including a YouTuber from Haryana and a local fraudster, have been apprehended by the police of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh in the past two weeks for reportedly participating in espionage activities for Pakistan.

What we have learned up to this point

• Two women ‘agents’ and one Pakistani official: Haryana YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra and 31-year-old Guzala from Punjab were reportedly in communication with Pakistani officer Ehsan-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish, stationed at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
• Jyoti Malhotra – She met Danish, a Pakistani diplomat, while visiting the Pakistan High Commission to apply for a visa to travel to the adjacent country. She communicated with PIOs and traveled to Pakistan “several times” and to China once. Danish is the same official who was deemed persona non grata by India.

Jyoti Malhotra was reportedly communicating with Pakistani officials amid the recent military conflict. Now in police custody, her financial dealings and travel information are being scrutinized. Authorities think that Malhotra was being groomed as an “asset” for upcoming espionage activities.

• Guzala – She reportedly admitted to providing information about the Indian Army’s operations to Pakistani officials in Delhi for financial gain. According to the PTI news agency, the police reported that Danish transferred ₹30,000 to her in two UPI (unified payment interface) transactions – one for ₹10,000 and another for ₹20,000.
• Shahzad, hailing from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, was apprehended by the Moradabad Special Task Force on Sunday for purportedly engaging in cross-border smuggling and transmitting sensitive national security information to his Pakistani contacts by visiting the neighboring nation multiple times.
• Falaksher Masih and Suraj Masih are both from Punjab – They originate from Ajnala in Amritsar. They reportedly conveyed confidential data and images of military cantonments and air bases in the border region to ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence agency. They additionally notified their supervisors regarding the army’s activities, the whereabouts of BSF camps, airports, and provided their images along with other essential details, PTI reported.
• According to PTI, Police seized three mobile phones and eight live .30 bore cartridges from Sukhpreet Singh and Karanbir Singh of Gurdaspur, Punjab. In the course of Operation Sindoor, the pair reportedly communicated troop movements and information about significant strategic sites in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan. They had earlier participated in drug trafficking operations.
• Nauman Ilahi from Panipat in Haryana – Originally from Kairana in UP, he was apprehended by state authorities for allegedly providing sensitive data to certain individuals in Pakistan. He worked as a security guard at a factory and resided with his sister and brother-in-law in Hali Colony, Panipat.
• Devender Singh, a 25-year-old post-graduate student from Kaithal in Haryana, was detained for supposedly posting images of himself with weapons on social media. Singh encountered Pakistani intelligence agents last year while on a pilgrimage and stayed in communication with them. He supposedly took pictures of the Patiala cantonment by photographing from the outside.
• Armaan from Nuh in Haryana – He reportedly conveyed details concerning the Indian Army and various military operations to Pakistan via a staff member stationed at the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi. The suspect is believed to have disseminated such information over an extended period via WhatsApp and social media.
• Mohammad Tarif from Nuh in Haryana – Tarif is alleged to have disclosed classified military activity information to Pakistan. He reportedly admitted to visiting Pakistan and providing a SIM card to Asif Baloch and Zafar, who are employees at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.

Officials said the arrests were made in wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s Operation Sindoor. “This is also (a kind of) warfare, in which they (Pakistan) try to push their narrative by recruiting influencers,” said Hisar Superintendent of Police Shashank Kumar Sawan.

All the accused are suspected to be passing sensitive information to Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs) and a detailed probe is underway into their financial transactions and digital trail of their electronic devices.