Court sends YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra to judicial custody in espionage case

Hisar: A court here on Monday remanded YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra to judicial custody after the end of her police remand in a case of alleged espionage.

The 33-year-old travel influencer was produced in the court. A police spokesperson said that they did not seek her further remand after which the court sent her to jail.

Meanwhile, data from Malhotra's three mobile phones and a laptop, which had been sent for forensic examination, has been recovered, police sources said on Monday.

"Nearly 10-12 terabytes of data has been recovered. Further investigation in this regard is under progress," they said.

After her arrest, the police had sent Malhotra's three mobile phones and a laptop for forensic examination. Malhotra's four bank accounts are also being examined.

The court had extended Malhotra's police remand by four days when the YouTuber -- arrested on suspicion of espionage -- was last week produced before the court at the end of her five-day police remand.

Malhotra was among the 12 people arrested from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh over the past three weeks on suspicion of espionage, with investigators suspecting the presence of a Pakistan-linked spy network operating in north India.

The Hisar native ran a YouTube channel -- "Travel with JO". She was arrested at the New Aggarsain Extension recently and booked under provisions of the Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Hisar police had said that no evidence had emerged to indicate Malhotra had access to any military or defence related information.

But she was definitely in contact with some people, knowing that they were Pakistani intelligence operatives, they had said.

Police sources had said she was in touch with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a staffer at the Pakistani High Commission, since November 2023. India expelled Danish on May 13 for allegedly indulging in espionage.

The National Investigation Agency, Intelligence Bureau, and military intelligence officials have also questioned Malhotra.

Investigations have revealed that she visited Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, and some other countries.

She was also allegedly in touch with Danish during the four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan that followed the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, they had said.