Following increased hostilities between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian intelligence and law enforcement officers have initiated an extensive crackdown against suspected espionage rings associated with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The crackdown has resulted in the arrest of at least eight suspects from three Indian states—Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh—laying bare a horrific trend of civilians being recruited into spying.

Young Influencers and Common Citizens under Fire

Among the arrested is Hisar, Haryana-based travel vlogger Jyoti Malhotra, who had a trending YouTube channel by the name ‘Travel with JO’. She was said to have passed on sensitive military information to Pakistan following encounters with a Pakistan High Commission official. She was said to have traveled to Pakistan twice and was under development as an asset by Pakistani intelligence handlers.

#WATCH | Hisar | “They were developing her (Jyoti Malhotra) as an asset. She was in touch with other YouTube influencers, and they were also in touch with the PIOs… She used to go to Pakistan, like on sponsored trips… She was in Pakistan before the Pahalgam attack, and the… pic.twitter.com/OD2wD1vzic

— ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2025

Hisar SP Shashank Kumar Sawan was worried about the increasing exploitation of young social media influencers by rival nations. “For quick money, such influencers get on the wrong track,” he informed the media, pointing to the susceptibility of public-facing persons to be manipulated by foreign handlers.

More Arrests Across the States on Spying for Pakistan

Yet another such disturbing case is that of Davender Singh Dhillon, a 25-year-old political science student at Khalsa College in Patiala. He was arrested in Kaithal, Haryana, following the posting of gun photographs on Facebook. Investigations revealed that he had traveled to Pakistan in November and supplied ISI agents with photographs of the military cantonment in Patiala.

Nauman Ilahi, a 24-year-old security guard from Panipat, Haryana, was also taken into custody for allegedly passing sensitive information to an ISI handler. Police added that he used his brother-in-law’s bank account to receive funds from Pakistan. Nauman hails from Uttar Pradesh.

In addition, a 23-year-old individual named Arman was apprehended in Nuh, Haryana, on May 16 after receiving reliable intelligence inputs. The police affirmed that he shared sensitive information with Pakistani handlers during the height of bilateral tensions.

Wider Network and Exploitation of Technology

The raids extended to Uttar Pradesh with the arrest of Shahzad, a Rampur businessman. He was picked up by the Special Task Force (STF) in Moradabad on charges of passing information relating to national security to Pakistani handlers. Shahzad was said to have visited Pakistan several times and was also involved in running a cosmetics, clothing, and spices smuggling racket.

There was another major arrest in Punjab as Mohammad Murtaza Ali, who was busted by Gujarat Police in a raid at Jalandhar, was using a mobile application he had made to spy on behalf of the ISI. Officials seized four mobile phones and three SIM cards from him.

Meanwhile, Gazala and Yamin Mohammad were also arrested in Punjab on similar charges of espionage, further emphasizing the reach of Pakistan’s intelligence web within India.

Espionage Surge Linked to Operation Sindoor

These arrests come in the wake of Operation Sindoor, India’s military action in retaliation for the Pahalgam massacre, during which nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were hit. The action against the spies comes as Islamabad launched missile and drone attacks in retaliation for India’s attacks, which were successfully repelled by Indian air defence systems.

The importance of these arrests should not be underestimated. They not only uncover Pakistan’s expanded espionage network but also bring to the fore the imperative need for heightened digital monitoring, counterintelligence, and citizen sensitization. While India strengthens its internal security regime, the recent arrests could just be the beginning of a deeper iceberg of clandestine operations designed to destabilize national security.