12 people, including a YouTuber, have been nabbed from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh on charges of espionage

Vishal Raina Jazzbaat24 

Chandigarh, May 20: 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.

While six of them have been held from Punjab, five were nabbed from neighbouring Haryana, and one from Uttar Pradesh.

The arrests took place in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s Operation Sindoor, officials said.

Among those arrested, two women — YouTuber from Haryana Jyoti Malhotra, whose YouTube channel and Instagram accounts have 3.77 lakh subscribers and 1.33 lakh followers, and 31-year-old Guzala from Punjab — were allegedly in touch with Pakistani officer Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish posted at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

On May 13, India expelled the Pakistani official for allegedly indulging in espionage.

Police investigations have so far revealed that the accused were allegedly passing on sensitive information to Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs), officials said, adding that a probe into their financial transactions and forensic analysis of their electronic devices were also underway.

In addition to the arrests made from Punjab and Haryana, an alleged agent of Pakistan’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur on Sunday by the state’s Special Task Force.

On May 4, Punjab Police arrested Falaksher Masih and Suraj Masih — both residents of Ajnala in Amritsar — for their alleged role in leaking sensitive information and photographs of army cantonment areas and air bases in the border district to ISI.