New Delhi: At least 12 people, including a YouTuber, have been nabbed from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on charges of espionage over the last two weeks with investigations pointing to an alleged Pakistan-linked spy network operating in north India, police said.
The arrests follow a joint intelligence operation involving state police forces and central agencies. The alleged network was reportedly passing on sensitive military and strategic information to Pakistan-based handlers, some of whom were operating under diplomatic cover from the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
Among those detained is Jyoti Malhotra, a prominent Hisar-based YouTuber with over 3.7 lakh subscribers and more than 1.3 lakh Instagram followers. The Haryana Police arrested her on May 16 under the Official Secrets Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for allegedly sharing classified information with a Pakistani official named Danish, identified as Ehsan-ur-Rahim, who the Indian government expelled on May 13 for espionage activities.
The crackdown spans three states. Six people were arrested from Punjab, four from Haryana, and two from Uttar Pradesh.
In Punjab, police arrested Falaksher Masih and Suraj Masih of Amritsar’s Ajnala area on May 4 for allegedly leaking photographs and operational details of army cantonments and air bases to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). On May 11, two more persons, Guzala (31) and Yameen Mohammad from Malerkotla, were detained after investigators discovered they had received payments via online platforms for sharing military data with the same Pakistani official, Danish. Guzala reportedly confessed to receiving Rs 30,000 through two UPI transactions.
Two more suspects, Sukhpreet Singh and Karanbir Singh, were picked up on May 15 in Punjab for allegedly leaking details of troop movements and strategic sites related to Operation Sindoor in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
In Haryana, Nauman Ilahi was arrested in Panipat on May 15. Originally from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, Ilahi was allegedly in contact with a Pakistan-based ISI handler. A day later, 25-year-old postgraduate student Devender Singh was held in the Kaithal district. Singh had travelled to Pakistan on pilgrimage last November and reportedly stayed in contact with intelligence operatives after his return. He is accused of photographing the Patiala cantonment and uploading weapon-related images on social media.
In Nuh district, police arrested Armaan, 26, on May 18 for sharing sensitive military information via WhatsApp and social media platforms. A local quack, Shahzad, was later apprehended in a joint operation with a central agency for allegedly participating in cross-border smuggling and espionage for the ISI. He was nabbed from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, by the state’s Special Task Force (STF).
