Judicial custody of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra extended in espionage case till September 3
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Chandigarh: A Haryana court on Monday extended the judicial custody of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, arrested in May on charges of espionage, till September 3.
She was produced before Judicial Magistrate Sunil Kumar in Hisar, who remanded her to further custody. Malhotra, who ran a YouTube channel called ‘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 complaint of Sub-Inspector Bijender Singh at Civil Lines police station, Hisar.
Last week, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) filed a charge sheet running nearly 2,500 pages, claiming “solid evidence” of her involvement in espionage for Pakistan. Malhotra was arrested on May 16 and has remained in custody since.
According to investigators, she initially created travel blogs and social media content but allegedly came into contact with Pakistani intelligence handlers during a visit to Pakistan. A forensic examination of her phone reportedly revealed extensive conversations with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish Ali, a staffer at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi, who has since been expelled by India.
The charge sheet also mentions her links with ISI operatives Shakir, Hasan Ali and Nasir Dhillon. She has been accused of sharing sensitive information about Indian locations and promoting Pakistan positively on social media. Investigators allege she developed an intimate relationship with one operative and even travelled with him to Bali, Indonesia.
Her lawyer, Kumar Mukesh, said they would respond to the charges after studying the documents.