Cracking ‘Spy Ring’: YouTuber, Student and Smuggling in Steering Network related to Pakistan of North India

New Delhi: India has launched a widespread crack on an alleged Pakistan -linked detective network in the northern states, in which at least 12 persons including a popular YouTuber have been arrested on charges of espionage in the previous fortnight. The suspects were raised from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, which increased concerns after Pahalgam terror attack and army operation vermilion.Also read: ‘She told me that she was going to Delhi, not Pakistan’: YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra’s father makes U-turnTwo women, Haryana-based influential Jyoti Jyoti Malhotra and 31-year-old Gujala from Punjab, were allegedly in contact with a Pakistani intelligence officer, Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, who were posted in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. On 13 May, India expelled the Pakistani officer for alleged participation in espionage activities.Investigators claim that the arrested people were giving sensitive military and strategic information to the Pakistani handler. Police said forensic analysis of digital equipment and financial transactions is going on.Amidst the first arrest, ISI operators were taken into custody on 4 May for allegedly leaking about army cantonment and airbase near Pakistan border from Amritsar, from Amritsar on 4 May. More arrests on May 11, which included Guzala and Yameen Mohammed from Malkotla, who were allegedly paid through UPI transfer to share confidential military details.Police say that Gujala confessed to sharing information with Danish for financial benefits, receiving Rs 30,000 in two transactions.On 13 May, two more men from Gurdaspur Sukhpreet Singh and Karanbir Singh were detained. He was reportedly involved in leaking data on the troupe movement during Operation Sindoor and Strategic places in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Arms and electronic evidences were seized during the arrest.“During the investigation, it was also discovered that he was earlier involved in drug trafficking, through which he came in contact with ISI handlers. His financial transactions, including online and cash deals, also came under investigation,” Gurdaspur SSP Aditya said.In Haryana, 24 -year -old Naaman Elahi was arrested on 15 May in Pinipat to supply information to Pakistan on 15 May. Elahi, originally in Uttar Pradesh, was allegedly in touch with an ISI handler. A day later, the police arrested Devendra Singh, a postgraduate student of Kaithal, who visited Pakistan in November 2023 and was reportedly in touch with four Pakistani operators.Kaithal SP Bone Modi confirmed Singh’s arrest and said, “The accused Devendra Singh is 25 years old and is a first -year MA student in a college in Patiala. He was in contact with 4 Pakistani Intelligence Operators (PIOs). Can not be rejected.”YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who runs the ‘Travel with Joe’ with more than 3.7 lakh customers, was arrested from Hisar on 16 May. His video includes titles like “Indian girl in Pakistan” and “Indian girl’s discovery Lahore”. According to the police, it was found in 2023 applying for a visa from Danish in Pakistan’s High Commission. Hisar SP Shashank Kumar Sawan said that Malhotra was “being developed as a property” during the military struggle after Operation Sindoor.“This is also a war (a type of) war, in which they try to advance their story by recruiting the affected,” Sawan said.Malhotra, who has visited Pakistan several times and has also visited China, is under the five -day police remand.In further developments, Haryana Police arrested 26 -year -old Armaan from Noah and a local Quack, Mohammad Tarif on charges of espionage. Tarif is accused of providing a SIM card to a Pakistani officer and allegedly confessed to going to Pakistan.Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh, Shehzad of Rampur was arrested by the Special Task Force for allegedly passing sensitive information to ISI handlers, while attached to crossing the boundary of goods such as cosmetics and spices.