'Spy vlogger' Jyoti Malhotra visited Pahalgam three months before the deadly terror attack that killed 26 people and passed on sensitive information to ISI agents, according to News18.
Jyoti has been slapped with charges under Official Secrets Act Sections 3, 4 and 5 as well as BNS Section 152.
The YouTuber was also in touch with her handler Danish who worked at the Pakistan High Commission of India on May 6, a day before Operation Sindoor was launched, The Times of India cited sources as saying.
Amid fresh revelations, Shesh Paul Vaid, former Jammu and Kashmir DGP, took to X, asking whether it's a coincidence that Jyoti Malhotra visited Pahalgam in January 2025. Following this, she visited Pakistan shortly. This was her fourth sponsored trip to the neighbouring country, with three other trip before the Pahalgam attack.
Jyoti Malhotra was reportedly honey-trapped by a staffer at the Pakistani High Commission, Ehsan-ur-Rahim, who she referred to as Danish ji. They had first met in 2023. The duo had also travelled to Bali, Indonesia.
India had declared Danish a persona non grata over spying on May 13. It was Danish who introduced Jyoti to ISI handlers. One of these ISI operatives, Shakir alisa Rana Shahbaz, was in close contact with Jyoti who saved his number as Jatt Randhawa on her phone. She reportedly shared information via encrypted apps like WhatsApp, Telegram and Snapchat.
Jyoti was also in touch with another female YouTuber whom she met in Puri, Odisha in September 2024. The woman from Odisha had also gone to Pakistan via Kartarpur Corridor.
Besides Jyoti, 10 others have been arrested for spying so far. These include three people who were recently arrested from Punjab and Haryana. The duo arrested from Punjab are Sukhpreet Singh and Karanbir Singh who shared classified details on Operation Sindoor, including troop movements and strategic locations. In Haryana, police arrested one Armaan from Nuh. He sent photos and videos to Paksitani phone numbers.
