The Indian government arrested a YouTube influencer, Jyoti Malhotra, on charges of spying for Pakistan.
She was arrested in Haryana for allegedly spying on India for Pakistani agencies. Haris Malhotra, the father of Haryana YouTuber and alleged Pakistani spy Jyoti Malhotra, stated that his daughter had visited the neighbouring country to shoot videos and questioned why she could not contact her friends living in the country if she wished to do so.
“She made YouTube videos. She used to visit Pakistan and other places. If she has some friends there, can’t she call them? I have no demands, but give us our phones. A case has been registered against us,” ANI news agency quoted Malhotra. Her father argued that Jyoti had taken all the permission to visit Pakistan.
DSP Kamaljeet claims to have recovered ‘suspicious things’ from her mobile and laptop. According to police, Jyoti has been sharing sensitive information with Pakistani officials.
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DSP Kamaljeet said, “Based on the inputs that we had, we arrested Jyoti, daughter of Haris Kumar, under the Official Secret Act and BNS 152. We have received some suspicious things after we recovered her mobile and laptop. We have taken her on a 5-day remand, and further investigation is on. She was in continuous contact with a Pakistani citizen.”
She allegedly met a Pakistani officer at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. She travelled to Pakistan twice. There she met the man named Ahsan-ur-Rehman aka Danish. The Pakistani officials sponsored and arranged her trip to Pakistan.
Some more influencers have also been caught. Police claim she was allegedly in touch with other social media influencers, some of whom may also have links to Pakistani intelligence.
“She was in touch with other YouTube influencers, and they were also in touch with Pakistani intelligence officers. She used to go on to Pakistan on sponsored trips, We are investigating, as we have leads that other people were also involved with her,” said an Indian police officer.