A local court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of social media influencer Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested on suspicion of espionage last month, her lawyer Kumar Mukesh informed.
The 33-year-old YouTuber appeared before the court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Sunil Kumar through video-conferencing, but was denied bail after the police opposed her plea saying investigation was underway.
On June 9, the court had extended Malhotra's judicial custody and fixed her case's next hearing on June 23.
Malhotra was arrested on May 16 by the Hisar Police on suspicion of espionage and subsequently remanded to five days of police custody by the court. She was booked under provisions of the Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Following the completion of the remand, the court extended the custody by four more days after the police sought the permission of questioning her further. On May 26, the court remanded her to judicial custody for 14 days.
Malhotra, who hails from Hisar, ran a YouTube channel called, ‘Travel with JO’.
The Hisar Police previously said no evidence had emerged to indicate that Malhotra had access to any military- or defence-related information, but claimed she was in contact with some people despite being aware that they were Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIO).
Police sources also claimed she was in touch with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a staffer at the Pakistani High Commission, since November 2023. India expelled Danish on May 13 for allegedly indulging in espionage.
The police have claimed Pakistani intelligence operatives were developing Malhotra as an asset.
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