YOUTUBER HELD FROM HARYANA ON CHARGES OF SPYING FOR PAK

ROHTAK: Haryana police have arrested a YouTuber for alleg-edly passing on sensitive infor-mation to Pakistani intelligence operatives, including a High Commission staffer expelled by India on May 13, officials said on Saturday.

Hisar resident Jyoti Malhotra, 33, is accused of being part of a spy network that spanned Pun-jab and Haryana. Police have made four similar arrests this week

Malhotra runs a YouTube channel called Travel with JO with nearly 400,000 subscribers She was arrested from her house in New Aggarsain Extension of Hisar on May 16. During ques-tioning, Malhotra confessed to sharing sensitive information with Pakistani operatives, Hisar police spokesperson Vikas Kumar said.

"After her arrest, we have seized the mobile phone and lap-top of blogger Jyoti Malhotra and recovered some sensitive documents pertaining to passing sensitive information to Paki-stani operatives." Hisar deputy superintendent of police (head-quarters) Kamaljeet Singh said.

Malhotra, who has been booked under sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act, was sent to five-day police remand.

An FIR was registered on May 16 at Hisar Civil Lines police sta-tion based on a complaint lodged by sub-inspector Sanjay, who goes by one name. HT has seen a copy of the FIR.

In 2023, Malhotra came in contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, at the Pakistan High Commission where she went to seek a visa to visit the neighbouring nation, according to the FIR. Malhotra, who visited Pakistan twice, met Danish's acquaintance Ali Ahwan who arranged her stay there, the doc-ument said.

She met Danish several times at the Pakistan High Commis sion in Delhi and was found to be in touch with Pakistani Intel ligence Operatives, it said.

She is part of a network that spantied across Haryana and Punjab, with key operatives act ing as agents, financial conduits, and information,the FIR said.