Jyoti Malhotra, a Hisar-based YouTuber and travel content creator, has been arrested for alleged espionage after being under surveillance for her suspicious connections with Pakistani intelligence operatives (PIOs). Her arrest, which comes in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, has triggered a wider investigation into a possible spy network operating through social media influencers in India. Authorities say she had visited Pakistan multiple times, including just before the deadly April 22 attack, and had also travelled to China. Her foreign visits and financial patterns are now under intense scrutiny.
Multiple Visits to Pakistan and Connections to PIOs
Hisar Superintendent of Police Shashank Kumar Sawan revealed that central intelligence agencies had flagged Jyoti Malhotra’s connections with PIOs, who were allegedly grooming her as an intelligence asset. Jyoti Malhotra, who runs a YouTube channel called Travel with JO with over 3.77 lakh subscribers, had travelled to Pakistan several times, meeting high-profile individuals and even members of Pakistan’s security agencies. According to the FIR, she first met a Pakistani officer named Ehsan-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish, at the Pakistan High Commission while seeking a visa in 2023. He introduced her to others, including Ali Ahwan and security officials Shakir and Rana Shahbaz. One of these contacts, Shakir, was saved in her phone under a fake name to evade detection.
Jyoti Malhotra’s communications with these operatives reportedly continued via encrypted platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat even after her return to India. Danish, one of her key contacts, was recently declared persona non grata by the Indian government and asked to leave the country. Authorities believe Jyoti Malhotra was part of a larger espionage network spanning Haryana and Punjab.
Financial Probe and Wider Network Under Investigation
Officials are now probing the source of Jyoti Malhotra’s income, which they say does not match the cost of her frequent international travel. Although she presented herself as a travel blogger, investigators suspect external funding. Police are also examining her Indian contacts and her meetings in places like Puri, where she connected with another YouTuber reportedly linked to Pakistan’s Kartarpur Sahib.
Jyoti Malhotra has been booked under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Her arrest follows similar detentions in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, including that of a postgraduate student and a man from Shamli. Despite her family’s denial of the charges, intelligence agencies continue to build a case involving multiple individuals and foreign links.
