Chandigarh, Aug 16 (IANS) Haryana Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) has filed a nearly 2,500-page chargesheet in a Hisar court against YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who has been arrested on charges of espionage for Pakistan.

The chargesheet claimed that “solid evidence” had been gathered establishing her involvement in espionage activities.

She was arrested on suspicion of espionage on May 16 and was subsequently remanded to custody.

According to the chargesheet, Malhotra had been allegedly passing sensitive information to Pakistani agents for a considerable period and maintained regular contact with them.

Investigators said she initially started by creating blogs and content like a regular YouTuber, but during a visit to Pakistan, she allegedly came into contact with intelligence handlers.

Police said digital forensic examination of her mobile phone revealed extensive conversations with Ehsan-ur-Rahim Danish Ali, an officer at the Pakistani High Commission in India.

The chargesheet also named her links with ISI operatives — Shakir, Hasan Ali and Nasir Dhillon. Responding to the chargesheet, her counsel Kumar Mukesh said they would respond legally after reviewing it. The next hearing is on August 18.

According to the first information report (FIR), Malhotra had visited the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2023, where she came into contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, a staffer.

She has been accused of sharing sensitive information regarding Indian locations and was used to project Pakistan on social media in a positive light.

Danish, who has since been declared persona non grata by the Indian government and expelled on May 13, introduced her to multiple intelligence operatives based in Pakistan.

Investigators say she also entered into an intimate relationship with an intelligence operative and travelled to Bali in Indonesia with him.

Malhotra, who was running a YouTube channel named ‘Travel with Jo’, has been booked under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on the statement of Sub-Inspector Bijender Singh in the Civil Lines Police Station in Hisar.

–IANS

vg/svn