Jyoti Malhotra's custody extended in espionage probe

A court here on Monday extended the judicial custody by 14 days of social media influencer Jyoti Malhotra arrested last month on the suspicion of espionage.

The Hisar Police arrested Malhotra, who ran a YouTube channel 'Travel with JO', on the suspicion of espionage on May 16. Hailing from Hisar, the Youtuber was arrested at the New Aggarsain Extension and booked under provisions of the Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Malhotra's lawyer Kumar Mukesh said, "Her judicial remand has been further extended by 14 days and the next date of hearing has been fixed by the court on July 7." The 33-year-old YouTuber appeared before the court through video-conferencing, he said.

Earlier on June 9, another court here had rejected her regular bail plea.

Police had opposed the bail and argued that the investigation in this case was still going on.

After her arrest on May 16, Malhotra was remanded to five days of police custody by the court.

Following the completion of the remand, the court extended the custody by four more days after the police sought to question her further.

On May 26, the court remanded her to judicial custody for 14 days, which was further extended later.

The Hisar Police previously said no evidence had emerged to indicate Malhotra had access to any military or defence-related information but claimed she was in contact with some people, aware that they were Pakistani intelligence operatives.

Police sources had previously said she was in touch with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a staffer at the Pakistani High Commission, since November 2023.

India expelled Danish on May 13 for allegedly indulging in espionage.

Police had last month claimed that Pakistani intelligence operatives were developing Malhotra as an "asset".