It began like a whisper—soft, subtle, nearly invisible. But when the Indian intelligence community started tugging at the thread, what unraveled was a chilling revelation: a carefully spun web of deceit, charm, and betrayal. Somewhere between curated Instagram reels and travel vlogs, a silent war was being waged against the nation. And at the heart of it all stood a woman the agencies now call ‘Madam N’.

Her real name? Noshaba Shehzad Masood. Her profession? Ostensibly, she’s the owner of a ‘travel agency’ in Lahore. But behind the smiling photos and digital footprints was a sinister operation. According to officials, she had managed to convert Indian influencers and YouTubers—ordinary citizens with large followings—into unwitting agents for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). One of them was Jyoti Malhotra, whose name would later feature prominently in the unfolding spy drama.

Noshaba’s story is built like a masterstroke in psychological warfare. Raised in the quiet town of Talagang in Chakwal district, Punjab, she married a bureaucrat in Islamabad and initially dabbled in agricultural exports. But in 2018, something changed. After moving to Lahore—her husband’s native place—she began her true work.

She started reaching out to vulnerable hearts. Indians whose families had been uprooted during the traumatic Partition. Elders now in the twilight of their lives, longing to touch the soil of their birth one last time. She posed as their savior, offering help to walk them through the memories of lost homes and broken pasts. And then came the quote that now seems laced with dual meaning. In 2023, The Times of India reported her saying: "I've forgotten the number of people from India who connect with me on social media for a visa to visit home. They are in the twilight of their lives. Fond memories of their roots perhaps create a strong urge to visit, maybe for one final time."

This wasn’t charity. It was strategy. Behind the curtain of nostalgia, Noshaba had launched a full-fledged recruitment drive—enlisting Indians, both within the country and abroad, to spy for Pakistan, as per NDTV sources. Reports suggest that she commands hundreds of sleeper cells already active in India. These were not rogue units. These were carefully planted operatives, ready to activate when summoned.

How did she manage to pull this off from Lahore? The answer lies in her quiet but powerful presence within the corridors of the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi. Her influence was enough to fast-track visas for Indian citizens—no background checks, no formal approvals—just the nudge of ‘Madam N’.

Among her key contacts was Danish, also known as Ehsan ur Rehman, a figure so deeply embedded that he was eventually declared persona non grata by Indian authorities. His connection with Jyoti Malhotra went far beyond formal introductions. The two had even travelled to Bali together, a trip now raising questions about its real purpose. Malhotra is also known to have visited Pakistan four times—each visit now under the scanner.

The most disturbing part? There is no official system that allows tourists from India to visit Pakistan. No formal process exists to issue tourist visas to Indian nationals. And yet, somehow, these so-called 'visitor visas' were being issued—on the direct recommendation and sponsorship of ‘Madam N’.

The curtain is slowly rising on a dark stage where travel became a tool, emotions became weapons, and influencers became infiltrators—without even knowing what they had signed up for.

From a travel agent to a central figure in a covert spy operation—‘Madam N’, as Indian intelligence codenamed her, is not just any ordinary operator. Her real name, Noshaba Shehzad, now echoes in security briefings and high-level intelligence reports. She is the founder of a Lahore-based company called ‘Jaiyana Travel and Tourism’, the epicenter of a scheme that runs far deeper than holiday planning. Her name surfaced during the interrogation of arrested Indian influencers—YouTubers and content creators—who were shockingly found to be working as informants for Pakistan.

The mission? Not just cross-border visits or social media content. Madam N was allegedly laying the bricks for a massive sleeper cell network—at least 500 spies—scattered across India, hidden in plain sight. These weren’t agents with guns and codes. These were ordinary-looking civilians, collecting and quietly passing on sensitive information to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

As reported by NDTV, Noshaba Shehzad’s husband is a retired officer of the Pakistani civil services. But this wasn’t a family business. This was a national operation. The ISI and Pakistani Army were directly instructing her on how to develop and expand this undercover spy network inside India.

Her bait was subtle and targeted. Noshaba lured Indian Hindus and Sikhs, those emotionally tied to sacred places in Pakistan, and introduced them to ISI operatives and Pakistan Army personnel. Within just six months, about 3,000 Indian citizens and 1,500 NRIs had visited Pakistan under her guidance.

How did this happen so easily? The answer lies in her deep connections. Shehzad held significant influence within the Pakistani Embassy’s visa section in New Delhi, where her reach extended to top officials like First Secretary (Visa) Suhail Qamar and Counsellor (Trade) Umar Sheryar. This meant that she could get Pakistani visas sanctioned for anyone she selected, often bypassing protocol entirely.

She was also in direct touch with Danish alias Ehsan-ur-Rehman, a visa officer who eventually got expelled from India after the exposure of Jyoti Malhotra’s activities. It became evident that Noshaba had built a mechanism where the diplomatic doors opened with just her nod.

Adding a religious front to her strategy, Noshaba’s company was the only agency officially arranging Sikh and Hindu pilgrimages to Pakistan, operating in collaboration with the Evacuee Trust Property Board. But beneath the spiritual surface lay a darker transaction. Despite no formal system allowing tourism between India and Pakistan, visas were being routinely issued on her recommendation.

Behind the holy tours was a calculated business model. ‘Madam N’ charged exorbitant fees from Indian pilgrims, exploiting their emotional longing, and then channeled this money into Pakistani propaganda activities. She had even planted a network of travel agents in multiple Indian cities, including New Delhi, whose job was not just to promote her agency but to identify and trap potential new recruits.

What appeared as a simple travel agency was, in truth, a pipeline for espionage and misinformation. Intelligence officials believe that the overcharging of pilgrims wasn't just profiteering—it was a systematic strategy to raise funds for anti-India covert operations.

Her recruitment drive didn’t stop at Pakistan’s border. She expanded her spy web by appointing Indian travel agents across various cities, forming a domestic support system to funnel vulnerable citizens directly into her espionage trap.

As the puzzle pieces come together, Madam N emerges not just as a recruiter but as the architect of one of the most complex ISI-linked spy networks inside India, one that was powered not by weapons but by deception, emotional manipulation, and an invisible army of digital influencers and unsuspecting pilgrims.