'Spy' YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra had easy access in Pakistan, travelled in luxury

New Delhi, May 18 (IANS) YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested on charges of espionage in Haryana's Hisar, had free access to all places in Pakistan.

According to sources, her questioning revealed that she used to roam freely in the neighbouring country. Generally, when an Indian goes to Pakistan, he or she is monitored at the police level and can go only to those places mentioned in the visa.

However, Malhotra used to get VIP treatment because of her links with Pakistan High Commission officer Danish and other intelligence officials. She also got security from the Pakistani police.

Malhotra, who is on a five-day police remand after being arrested, used to attend high-profile parties in Pakistan where she met top officials, apart from those in intelligence agencies.

The sources said she confessed to this during interrogation by the Hisar Police.

She has visited Kashmir twice. Apart from Pakistan, she visited Bali in Indonesia with an intelligence agency officer and also went to Nepal.

The sources claimed that on the pretext of making YouTube videos, she was collecting intelligence information about India and giving it to Pakistan.

Malhotra went to the Pakistani High Commission on March 23, where she participated in an Iftar party. She also uploaded the video of this on her channel. At the party, Danish welcomed her in a very friendly manner, and both of them were seen talking to each other in such a way that it seemed that they knew each other very well. Danish also introduced her to his wife. Apart from this, he also made her talk to the officials present there. Malhotra also met some Chinese officials at the party. She kept praising the arrangements made at the Pakistani High Commission throughout the video. She also invited Danish's wife to come to her home, i.e., Hisar in Haryana.

According to sources, Malhotra has so far visited many countries, including Pakistan, China, Nepal, Thailand, Bhutan, Dubai and Indonesia. She always travelled in first class on flights, stayed in expensive hotels, ate in high-end restaurants and visited jewellery shops.

The YouTuber has also shared a photo of her first-class journey to Dubai on her social media accounts.

According to Hisar Police sources, Malhotra came on the radar of security agencies when she visited China immediately after Pakistan in 2024. She toured Pakistan for about 12 days in April 2024. After this, she immediately went to China in June. In China, she moved around in luxury cars and visited jewellery shops in many places. This made the security agencies in India suspicious about her motive and expenditure. After which, her surveillance was started.

The sources said that during interrogation, Malhotra said that she had created a YouTube account in the name of 'Travel with Joe'. She wanted to explore Pakistan. For this, she went to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to get a visa, where she met Danish and exchanged numbers.

Jyoti told the police that Danish seemed very friendly in the first meeting, and both started talking on the phone. In 2023, she got a 10-day visa to Pakistan. Danish asked her to meet Ali Ahwaan in Pakistan. Ali Ahwaan made arrangements for her travel and stay.

Ali introduced her to officials of the Pakistani intelligence agency. Ali made her meet Shakir and Rana Shahbaz. Both of them turned out to be officers of the Pakistani intelligence agency. Jyoti took Shakir's mobile number. To avoid suspicion of a Pakistani number in her mobile, she fed it in the name of 'Jat Randhawa'.

After returning, she started working for Pakistani intelligence agencies and sent intelligence information to them through WhatsApp, Snapchat, Telegram and other mediums. However, it has not been revealed what information she gave to Pakistan.

Police and Indian intelligence agencies were tracking Malhotra's activities for a long time. When concrete evidence was found, the police came to her house on Thursday (May 15) at 10 a.m. and launched searches.

Apart from Jyoti, everyone's mobile phones were confiscated, including those of her father and uncle. Her laptop was also taken. After this, the police took Jyoti to the police station, but she was released after interrogation at 9 p.m.

Her father, Harish Malhotra, said that Jyoti had told him that she was being framed.

"She told me that she has not done anything wrong. She was again called for interrogation on Friday morning. Then, on Friday night itself, the police brought her back home. After confiscating all the belongings related to her, the police returned to the police station with Jyoti. Then it was known that Jyoti had been arrested."

--IANS

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