Punjab YouTuber Jasbir Singh, whose arrest marked the most recent action in India's action against an alleged cross-border espionage network, had visited Pakistan six times and had around 150 contact numbers from the neighbouring country in his phone.
After his arrest earlier this week, the man behind the popular 'JaanMahal Video' YouTube channel told police during remand that he had given his laptop to a Pakistan intelligence officer for around an hour.
Further, like many others arrested for allegedly passing on crucial information to Pakistan, including YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, Singh too was in touch with Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) operative Danish alias Ehsan-ur-Rehman, who worked as a visa officer in the Pakistani embassy in Delhi. He was introduced to Danish by a female friend, he told a court in Punjab's Mohali.
Singh also told the police that Danish had ordered some SIM cards from him. Danish was expelled from New Delhi after his link to the espionage network was found after Malhotra's arrest.
On Saturday, Singh's police remand was extended for two days. He was arrested on June 4 on espionage charges and was allegedly in close touch with Malhotra. After his arrest the police had claimed that it unearthed a "terror-backed espionage network" linking him to Pakistani intelligence and army officials.
Earlier, Singh was found to be associated with Pakistan Intelligence Officer Shakir alias Jutt Randhawa and it was established that he came into direct contact with ISI officers during his visits to Pakistan in 2020, 2021 and 2024. He also disclosed during police interrogation that former Pakistan cop Nasir Dhillon had introduced him to ISI officials in Lahore.
On his YouTube channel, which has 11 lakh subscribers, Singh posted travel and cooking vlogs.
Security agencies also suspect that hundreds of former police personnel of Pakistan Police are part of the espionage racket, which targets Indian YouTubers.
Others facing spying charges include a student from Patiala's Khalsa College, Davendra Singh Dhillon. The 25-year-old was arrested in Haryana after he uploaded photos of a pistol on Facebook, and his Pakistan links emerged during his questioning. Nauman Ilahi, a 24-year-old security guard in Haryana, was found to be in touch with an ISI handler in Pakistan, and used to receive money in the account of his brother-in-law.
A 28-year-old health worker from Gujarat Sahdev Singh Gohil was arrested for transmitting sensitive information related to Indian military infrastructure to a Pakistani operative. Arman, 23, and Tarif, both from Haryana's Nuh district, were arrested within days of each other. Tarif was caught trying to delete chats with Pakistani numbers when police arrived at his residence.
Shakur Khan, a Rajasthan government employee from Jaisalmer, was also arrested on spying charges.
