CHANDIGARH: The 33-year-old YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra has been sent to 14-day judicial custody by a court in Haryana's Hisar after the end of her police remand for allegedly spying for Pakistan.
12 terabytes of data has been recovered from her three mobile phones which were sent for forensic examination and have revealed 'damning evidence'.
She was initially sent to police remand for five days and again appeared before the court on May 22. The court granted an additional four-day custody for further interrogation, which ended today.
A police spokesperson said that they did not seek her further remand, after which the court sent her to judicial custody.
Sources said that 12 TB of data from Malhotra's three mobile phones, which had been sent for forensic examination, has been recovered. As per the forensic report, she had direct contact with at least four intelligence operatives of Pakistan, and she received special treatment during her trips to the neighboring country.
"The police have recovered over 12TB of digital data from her three mobile phones and the report of the laptop is awaited. We are examining recovered digital data and further investigation in this regard is under progress,” said a senior police official.
After her arrest, the police had sent Malhotra's three mobile phones and a laptop for forensic examination. Malhotra's four bank accounts are also being examined.
As per Hisar police, while no evidence had surfaced indicating Jyoti had access to any sensitive military or defence-related information, she was reportedly in contact with individuals known to be Pakistani intelligence operatives.
Sources claimed that Jyoti came in contact with Pakistani officer Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish during a visit to the Pakistan High Commission seeking a visa to visit the neighboring nation.
She was in touch with Pakistani intelligence operatives, and visited the neighbouring country many times and also China, Dubai and other countries.
Danish is the same official who was declared persona non grata by India.
She has been booked under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and she was arrested from the New Aggarsain Extension in Hisar.
The National Investigation Agency, the Intelligence Bureau, and military intelligence officials have also questioned Malhotra.