YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra’s police remand extended by four days

A Hisar court on Thursday extended the police custody of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested for sharing sensitive information with Pakistani intelligence operatives (PIOs), by four days.

Travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra, 33, a resident of Hisar, was arrested on May 16 for allegedly sharing sensitive information with Pakistani operatives. The next day, she was produced before a local court, which sent her in five-day police custody. As her remand ended on May 21, she was produced in the court on Thursday.

She has been booked under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Hisar police spokesman Vikas Kumar said that the remand extension was sought as the forensic analysis of Jyoti’s laptop, electronic gadgets and three mobile phones is underway. Besides the three phones and the laptop, the police have sent two mobile phones of Harkirat Singh, the Kurukshetra-based agent who facilitated her trip to Pakistan, to the forensic laboratory for analysis.

“No mediaperson was allowed inside the court room. Police will share details on Thursday evening,” the spokesman said.

The police have not allowed Jyoti’s father, Harish Malhotra, to meet her yet.

On Wednesday, Hisar superintendent of police (SP) Shashank Kumar Sawan said that Jyoti was in contact with Pakistani intelligence operatives despite knowing their reality, but no evidence of her association with any terrorist group or with any terror activity has been found so far. “We have not found any document which shows that she wanted to marry any Pakistani intelligence operative or change her religion. No evidence of Jyoti knowing the planning of the armed forces has been found. The pages of her ‘diary’ shown in public domain have not been recovered by us. We don’t have a diary. Jyoti has four bank accounts, and we can’t comment on transactions as her accounts are being analysed. At this time, we can’t comment on her WhatsApp chats either as they are also being examined,” he added.

During the five-day remand, she was questioned by National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials over alleged links with PIOs.