Travel Vlogger, Who Visited Pak Twice, Arrested For Spying

She was a YouTuber by day and a spy, effectively, additionally by day, presumably. 

Jyoti Malhotra aka Jyoti Rani, who ran a journey account on YouTube known as ‘Journey With Jo’, has been arrested from Hisar in Haryana for sharing Indian army data with Pakistan, police mentioned on Saturday.  She is amongst six folks, together with a 25-year-old scholar and 24-year-old safety guard, from Punjab and Haryana who’ve been arrested on these prices.

Officers mentioned the 33-year-old, who describes herself in her YouTube as a ‘nomadic Leo woman wanderer’, ‘Haryanvi+Punjabi’ and ‘purane khyalo ki trendy ladki’ (a contemporary woman with a conventional outlook),  had are available in contact with an official, Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, within the Pakistan Excessive Fee and had gone to the neighbouring nation twice since 2023. 

After final week’s hostilities following the Pahalgam terror assault and India’s response, dubbed ‘Operation Sindoor’, Rahim had been declared persona non grata and requested to go away India inside 24 hours for committing espionage and leaking delicate data relating to the actions of the Indian Military. 

Throughout her interrogation, Malhotra informed the police that she had gone to the Pakistan Excessive Fee in Delhi in 2023 to get a visa to go to the nation when she met Rahim and commenced speaking to him. She mentioned she travelled to Pakistan twice after that and met Rahim’s acquaintance Ali Ahwan, who organized for her keep and journey within the nation. 

Confession

“In Pakistan, Ali Ahwan organized a gathering with Pakistani safety and intelligence officers and I met Shakir and Rana Shahbaz. I took Shakir’s cellular quantity and saved it in my cellphone below the identify of ‘Jat Randhawa’ to keep away from suspicion. Then I got here again to India and remained in fixed contact with all of the above folks via platforms like WhatsApp, Snapchat and Telegram and began exchanging anti-national data. I additionally met Rahim a number of occasions,” Officers quoted Malhotra as having informed the police.

They mentioned Malhotra, who’s a resident of Hisar, has been charged for endangering the  sovereignty, unity and integrity of India by finishing up suspicious actions and exchanging Indian intelligence data with a citizen of Pakistan who has been declared persona non grata by the Authorities of India on prices of espionage. 

Malhotra has been despatched to police custody for 5 days.

‘Memorable Second’

In an upbeat YouTube shorts posted in March, Malhotra detailed her journey to Pakistan, stating she had gone to discover Hindu pilgrimage websites. 

“First, we clear Indian immigration, then we cross the Attari-Wagah border. While you cross the border, you are feeling very enthusiastic. It is a memorable second, you get goosebumps. While you cross into Pakistan, there may be media protection of travellers,” she says in Hindi.

“Then you definitely change Indian rupees for Pakistani foreign money. I obtained 2.6 Pakistani rupees for every Indian rupee. I suffered a loss, I had thought it could be three,” she provides.     

Different movies posted this 12 months present her exploring the streets of Lahore, doing a “Ramzan meals tour” and visiting temples.

Different Arrests

A safety guard, Nauman Ilahi, was arrested in Haryana’s Panipat on Wednesday on prices of spying for Pakistan. The 24-year-old used to get cash deposited within the account of his brother-in-law in change for data. 

Devendra Singh Dhillon, a 25-year-old scholar, was arrested from Kaithal on Could 12 for importing pictures of weapons on social media. On Saturday, the Haryana Police mentioned he admitted throughout questioning that he went to Pakistan via the Kartarpur hall in November final 12 months and was sharing delicate data with officers of the ISI (Inter Companies Intelligence).

Kaithal Superintendent of Police Aastha Modi mentioned the first-year Grasp’s scholar of political science at Patiala’s Khalsa Faculty had additionally shared pictures of the Patiala army cantonment with Pakistanis officers.

The Punjab police had additionally arrested two folks on related prices final week.