YouTuber Jasbir Singh, known for his popular Punjabi-language YouTube channel Jaan Mahal with over 1.1 million subscribers, has been arrested by the Punjab Police on serious charges of espionage. Singh, a resident of Mahlan village in Rupnagar district, was detained by the State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) in Mohali for allegedly being part of a terror-backed spy network linked to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Authorities claim he was engaged in anti-national activities and sharing sensitive information with foreign handlers under the guise of social media content creation.
His arrest is part of a broader crackdown on individuals allegedly recruited by Pakistani operatives to gather intelligence from India. According to officials, Singh had close ties with Shakir alias Jutt Randhawa, a key operative in the network, and was in direct contact with Danish alias Ehsan-ur-Rahim, a Pakistani national who was expelled from the Pakistan High Commission in India for espionage-related activities.
Jasbir Singh reportedly attended the Pakistan National Day celebration in Delhi on Danish’s invitation. There, he allegedly interacted with Pakistani Army officers, diplomats, and several vloggers suspected of being involved in intelligence gathering. Authorities believe this event may have served as a recruitment or coordination platform for spy activities. Intelligence inputs suggest Singh had been using encrypted apps to communicate with his handlers, concealing conversations through layers of innocuous-looking travel content.
Singh’s links to Haryana-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra have added a new dimension to the investigation. Malhotra, a travel vlogger from Hisar with a growing subscriber base, was arrested earlier in May 2025 on similar espionage charges. She had reportedly visited Pakistan multiple times and maintained contact with Pakistani intelligence officers, including Danish. Her case was already under investigation when Jasbir Singh’s name emerged as part of her communication network.
Malhotra is believed to have passed sensitive data, including images and footage of strategic locations, to her handlers. Her travel vlogs reportedly served as a cover for reconnaissance work. Investigators are now examining whether Singh also created seemingly harmless videos as a front to gather classified or strategically relevant information, particularly in border districts.
Security agencies are now scrutinizing the digital footprints, travel histories, and financial transactions of both Singh and Malhotra. Forensic experts are analyzing their devices to recover deleted messages, photos, and videos. Their arrests have raised concerns within the Indian intelligence community about the growing misuse of social media influencers by hostile agencies for espionage, psychological operations, and propaganda dissemination.
Both Singh and Malhotra remain in police custody under provisions of the Official Secrets Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Their bail pleas have been denied as the case continues to unfold. The arrests have sent shockwaves through the influencer and vlogger communities, many of whom are now being scrutinized for potential foreign links, especially those who have traveled to or collaborated with individuals from hostile nations.
Authorities have indicated that more arrests may follow as the investigation expands, potentially uncovering a wider network of operatives embedded within India’s digital content ecosystem.
