Pakistani embassy official who trapped ‘spy’ YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra was an ISI agent: Sources

Pakistani High Commission official, Danish, who was expelled from India and who had trapped Haryana-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, was an agent of Islamabad's notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), sources said.

Danish, alias Ehsan-ur-Rehman, was expelled earlier this month amid India’s conflict with Pakistan, following the Pahalgam terror attack, which left 26 civilians dead. Danish’s passport was issued from Islamabad, and was granted a visa for India on January 21, 2022.

According to documents that were accessed by India Today, Danish was born in Narowal in Pakistan's Punjab province. Security agencies are now probing if Ehsan or Danish was his real name or a code given by the ISI.

While he was posted at the visa desk at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi, his real job was espionage and to trap people to spy for Pakistan, as per sources.

It has come to light that Danish was proactively developing Malhotra as an asset, before her arrest for espionage last week. 

Malhotra has confessed to being in touch with Danish as well as intelligence officers. She is under Haryana Police custody. During questioning, Jyoti said, "In 2023, I visited the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi to enquire about a visa to travel to Pakistan." She had admitted to meeting Danish in 2023 when she visited the High Commission to apply for a visa to travel to Pakistan. 

She also mentioned meeting Danish’s contact Ali Hassan in Pakistan, who arranged her stay and travel. Hassan introduced her to two intelligence officials, Shakir and Rana Shahbaz. The National Investigation Agency, Intelligence Bureau and military intelligence officials questioned Jyoti on Tuesday. They also investigated her financial transactions and travel details.