Jyoti Malhotra arrest: Military Intelligence, IB to interrogate YouTuber on suspicion of spying for Pakistan

In addition to the Haryana Police, teams from the Military Intelligence and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) will interrogate travel vlogger and YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra. Jyoti’s mobile phone and other seized electronic gadgets will be sent for forensic examination. She was arrested by Haryana Police on suspicion of spying for Pakistan, was sent to five days of police remand by a local court. According to police, suspicious things were found after the police recovered her laptop and mobile. Additionally, the Deputy Superintendent of Hisar, Kamaljeet, said that the vlogger was in continuous contact with a Pakistani citizen.

Haryana Police is currently working on decoding several Pakistani numbers saved in Jyoti Malhotra’s mobile phone. Her travel history is also under scrutiny, including which Indian states she visited between 2023 and 2025, along with details of her trips to around eight foreign countries during the same period. The police will also investigate Jyoti Malhotra’s bank accounts.

There is ongoing questioning about her alleged meetings in Pakistan with individuals named-

• Ali Ahwan
• Shakir
• Rana Shahbaz

Investigators are also trying to determine whether Jyoti had any accomplices who helped her pass classified Indian information to Danish. Additionally, the mobile phone data of other arrested suspects is being examined. 

These people include-

• Ghazala (from Punjab)
• Yaseen Mohammad
• Nomaan Ilahi (from UP’s Kairana)
• 26-year-old Armaan (arrested from Nuh)
• 25-year-old Devendra Singh Dhillon (arrested from Kaithal) 

Authorities are probing whether all arrested suspects were connected to one another, or if Danish recruited them separately over time for espionage. Money trails involving UPI and other financial channels linked to the accused are also under investigation.

Interrogations have revealed that all communication with Danish- via phone calls, messages, and chats- was conducted using code names. The accused had saved Pakistani contacts in their phones under different code names.

Danish was in contact with several social media influencers in India. During the Pahalgam terror attack and the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict, Jyoti remained in constant touch with Danish. Authorities are currently gathering information about who Jyoti met in Kashmir during her visits.

By infiltrating Indian social media influencers, Danish was attempting to improve Pakistan’s image on social media platforms, especially in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. Danish was using Jyoti as an asset.

All expenses for Jyoti’s trips to Pakistan were covered by Danish, who was posted at the Pakistan High Commission, and all of her tours to Pak were Pakistan-sponsored.

Kairana terror connection 

Investigative agencies are especially focusing on Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, where Nomaan Ilahi- believed to be a major ISI operative- was arrested. Kairana’s Pakistani connection is being explored because several Muslim families residing there have relatives in Pakistan.

Sources suggest that some young men from Kairana currently serve as ISI handlers in Pakistan, including- Iqbal Kana, Dilshad Mirza, Hamida, and Shahid, who are believed to be involved in anti-national activities from across the border. Not only that, Shahid from Kairana is reportedly traveling to places like Dubai, Morocco, and Afghanistan as part of a mission to recruit new ISI agents.

In recent years, several young men from Kairana and nearby towns have been arrested on charges of working for Pakistan’s ISI. Last year (in 2024), Kaleem and his brother Tahseem from Shamli district were arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) for allegedly working as ISI agents and sharing sensitive information through WhatsApp and other social media platforms.

Sardar Ali, a resident of Kandhla, was arrested in 2023 for allegedly being an associate of Pakistani terrorist Waris, who himself was arrested in 2000 and is currently in prison.

On June 17, 2021, a parcel blast occurred at Darbhanga Railway Station in Bihar. While there were no casualties, the NIA raided locations in Kairana during the investigation and arrested Saleem Tuiyaan and Kafeel in connection with the blast. In 1995, Iqbal Kana, a resident of Kairana, was caught in Delhi with a consignment of 361 pistols. He later fled to Pakistan.