Another YouTuber, with over a million subscribers, arrested in spying case

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, June 4, 2025: Weeks after the arrest of a travel vlogger for allegedly spying for Pakistan, Punjab Police has unearthed an espionage network linked to another YouTuber as Indian agencies crack down on those leaking sensitive information across the border.

Jasbir Singh runs a YouTube channel named ’JaanMahal video’ and has over a million subscribers. He was arrested in Rupnagar by the Punjab Police.

Singh was allegedly in contact with an officer of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) named Shakir and had visited the neighbouring country three times, said officials. The police have found several Pakistani numbers from his devices.

He had also attended the Pakistan National Day program held at the Pakistani Embassy in Delhi. The accused also had contact with Jyoti Malhotra, the YouTuber from Haryana who was arrested on May 15.

Malhotra ran a channel named ’Travel with Jo’ and had visited Pakistan at least three times, during which she came into contact with Pakistani officials. She was in touch with four Pakistani intelligence agents, sources had said.

The police have found some conversations that appeared to establish the Pakistani links of Malhotra, including a WhatsApp chat in which the 33-year-old YouTuber was purportedly seen asking an ISI handler to get her married in Pakistan.

She now faces charges under the Official Secrets Act and sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita penalising acts that endangered India’s unity, sovereignty, and integrity.

They are among the dozen-odd people who have been arrested on spying charges across the country amid heightened surveillance in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and India-Pakistan tensions.

Others facing spying charges include a student from Patiala’s Khalsa College, Davendra Singh Dhillon. The 25-year-old was arrested from Haryana after he uploaded photos of a pistol on Facebook, and his Pakistan links apparently emerged during his questioning.

He had allegedly shared sensitive information, including pictures of the Patiala military cantonment, with ISI’s agents.

Nauman Ilahi, a 24-year-old security guard in Haryana, was found to be in touch with an ISI handler in Pakistan, and used to receive money in the account of his brother-in-law.