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'Spy' YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra's police custody extended by four days

'Spy' YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra's police custody extended by four days

India Today22-05-2025
Haryana-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested along with six other persons for allegedly spying for Pakistan, will remain in police custody for at least four more days. During the questioning, Jyoti confessed to meeting Pakistani agents, sources said.As per Hisar Police sources, the remand was sought to facilitate forensic analysis and cross-examination of digital evidence that's awaited. Additionally, to investigate and question other individuals whose names have surfaced during the preliminary inquiry. Hisar Police had requested no media and others to be allowed inside court room.advertisementJyoti Malhotra, who ran the YouTube channel "Travel with Jo", visited Pakistan in 2023 after acquiring a visa through commission agents. During her trip, she developed close ties with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a staff member at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
Danish was an agent of Islamabad's notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), sources said. He was expelled by India earlier this month amid tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack, which left 26 people dead.Sources said Danish's passport was issued from Islamabad, and he was granted a visa for India on January 21, 2022. According to documents, exclusively accessed by India Today, Danish was born in Narowal in Pakistan's Punjab province.She confessed to having links with Pakistani intelligence agents and said that she was in regular contact with Danish, a Pakistani High Commission official in New Delhi, sources said. According to information exclusively accessed by India Today from interrogation records, Jyoti said she first came in contact with Danish, alias Ehsar Dar, in 2023 when she visited the High Commission for a visa to travel to Pakistan.advertisementJyoti, who runs the YouTube channel called 'Travel with Jo', has around 4 lakh subscribers on the platform."In 2023, I visited the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi to enquire about a visa to travel to Pakistan," Jyoti said during questioning, according to sources.The 33-year-old said during her visit to Pakistan, she met Danish's contact Ali Hassan, who arranged her stay and travel.Sources said Jyoti also disclosed that Ali Hassan introduced her to two individuals believed to be Pakistani intelligence officials - Shakir and Rana Shahbaz.
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