The MTA Speaks: Who is ‘Jyoti Jasoos’ – The YouTuber Accused of Betraying India?

Police tighten the noose around YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra as major revelations emerge. Watch the full analysis on “The MTA Speaks” with senior journalist Manoj Tibrewal Aakash.

New Delhi: YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra has been arrested by the police on charges of spying for Pakistan. 33-year-old Jyoti has visited Pakistan several times. Her father's name is Harish Malhotra, and he works in furniture.

Jyoti's house is in New Agrasen Colony on Ghoda Farm Road in the Hisar district of Haryana.

The country's well-known journalist Manoj Tibrewal Aakash analyzed this in his special show "The MTA Speaks" and told that Father Harish got divorced from his wife Sunita twenty years ago.

Since then, he has raised Jyoti. Jyoti is his only daughter. A total of three people live at home: Father Harish, Uncle Kushal Chand, and Jyoti. It is said that Jyoti mostly stayed out of the house.

She used to work in Gurugram before the Corona lockdown, and then she started her YouTube channel, 'Travel with Jo.' On this channel, she started giving information to people by making travel-related videos.

It has 3.2 lakh subscribers on YouTube and 13.4 lakh Instagram followers.

How did she get caught in Pakistan's trap?

It so happened that with the aim of making videos for her YouTube channel, she planned to cover the travel spots of Pakistan. For this, she had to plan to go to Pakistan, and first of all, she needed a Pakistani visa.

To get the visa, she reached the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi in the year 2023. Here she met an officer working there, Ahsan-ur-Rahim, alias 'Danish.' From here Jyoti got trapped in the trap laid by Danish.

Danish first trapped her in his love trap, then she started spying as per his instructions. Whenever Jyoti went to Pakistan, Danish used to make arrangements for her stay, food, etc. In 2023, she traveled to Pakistan twice, where she also met Ali Ehwan.

It is being said that Ali introduced her to Pakistani security and intelligence officers—Shakir and Rana Shahbaz.

After returning to India, Jyoti remained connected with Pakistani contacts through encrypted platforms like WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Telegram. To avoid suspicion, she had saved Shakir's number as "Jat Randhawa."

FIR on charges of espionage

Two days ago, on Thursday midnight at 2 o'clock, the police picked her up from her house in Hisar and then arrested her and produced her in the local court, from where she was sent on five-day police remand.

Now the police and intelligence agencies are interrogating her strictly. In April and May last year, within two months, she had traveled to Pakistan and then to China. After the arrest, police officials said that Jyoti had confessed to sharing sensitive information with Pakistan.

Now her Pakistani contacts are being investigated one by one. She is accused of giving confidential information related to the Indian Army and security to Pakistani agents. Not only this, she also propagated in favor of Pakistan on social media.

Jyoti has been named in the FIR under sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act (1923) and section 152 of the new Indian Penal Code (BNS). These are sections of serious national security crimes, in which, if found guilty, the punishment can be several years or life imprisonment.

According to the police, Jyoti is not the only accused. This is a whole spying gang, which also includes many other people from Punjab and Haryana.

The revelation came when the police arrested Guzala and Yamin Mohammad of Malerkotla (Punjab), Arman of Nuh (Haryana), Noman Ilahi from Panipat, and Devendra Singh Dhillon from Kaithal on the same charges.

All of them also have cases registered under the Official Secrets Act.

About the family

Her father, Harish Malhotra, completely denied all the allegations and said, "Does traveling to Pakistan mean spying?" He told me that the police had taken away Jyoti's laptop, mobile, and many other documents.

While meeting his daughter in the court on Saturday, she said, "I did not spy; I am innocent." Harish Malhotra says that his daughter had gone to Pakistan only for sightseeing. Everyone goes for sightseeing; it does not mean that he is spying.

He also told us that the police have returned one gold chain of his daughter's; the rest of the things are with the police. He will fight a legal battle to save his daughter.

He claimed that before giving the visa to Jyoti, the police had come to the house and interrogated her, and only after everything was found correct was she allowed to go to Pakistan. Two witnesses were also made, and the whole process was done legally.

He says that Jyoti does not have any big amount in her account. Like a common man, 15-20 thousand rupees used to come into her account every month, which she used to earn by making videos.

It is also being said that due to closeness with Danish, Jyoti also attended the Iftar party organized at the Pak High Commission and also uploaded a video of it on her YouTube channel, in which she is seen with Danish.

A picture of both of them has also surfaced, which clearly shows their closeness.

According to the FIR, Jyoti came in contact with Danish in the year 2023 when she went to the Pakistan High Commission for a visa. She met Danish several times in Delhi, and from there she came in contact with Pakistani intelligence agencies.

The Indian government expelled Danish from the country.

The most important thing is that the Indian government expelled Danish from the country on May 13.

During her visit to Pakistan, Jyoti had also uploaded an interview of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on her channel, which was taken at the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.

This video has been viewed more than seven lakh times. In it, she is seen praising Pakistan and tells that she has come to Pakistan for the second time.

There are a total of 487 videos on Jyoti's channel, which have many titles related to the Pakistan visit, such as 'Indian Girl in Pakistan,' 'Indian Girl Exploring Lahore,' 'Indian Girl at Katas Raj Temple,' and 'Indian Girl Rides Luxury Bus in Pakistan'

Police investigation has also revealed that Jyoti had gone to Pahalgam in January this year. Now the investigating agencies are trying to find out whether that trip was also a part of any mission. She had also shared some videos and pictures from there on social media.

It is also being said that other YouTubers and bloggers may also be involved in this network. A YouTuber named Navankur Chaudhary has been seen at parties with Jyoti, and he is also under suspicion.

Getting a Pakistani visa three times is not an easy task. It is being said that Jyoti was preparing to go to Pakistan for the fourth time, but she was exposed before that. Going to Pakistan repeatedly raises the question, did she go to give special information?

India's security agencies have taken major action on this network connected to Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, and so far 6 accused have been arrested, of whom the most important name is that of Jyoti Malhotra.

The police have found many suspicious things on her mobile and laptop. Investigation has revealed that she was constantly in touch with a Pakistani citizen. According to the information received, in the last two years, she has traveled to Pakistan three times, China once, and the UAE, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Thailand.

Another YouTuber associated with Rohtak has also been taken under suspicion, who himself also attended the party of the Pak High Commission with Jyoti. The investigating agencies will now interrogate all the accused face-to-face, which can lead to more big revelations.