Gurugram: A Haryana-based YouTuber and travel vlogger, Jyoti Malhotra, has been arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan. Produced before a local court Saturday, Malhotra was remanded to 5 days of police custody for further interrogation.
Speaking to the media Saturday, Hisar Deputy SP Kamaljeet Singh said Malhotra was in contact with Pakistani intelligence agencies and had been sharing confidential information about India through social media platforms. Her four visits to Pakistan had already placed her under the radar of Indian security agencies.
He said that the police quizzed Jyoti Malhotra on the basis of inputs that she was regularly in touch with some people in Pakistan.
Malhotra is the third person from Haryana to be arrested on the allegations of spying in the past one week. Nauman Ilahi, a security guard at Panipat was arrested Tuesday for allegedly leaking sensitive information to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and 25-year-old Devender Singh Dhillon from Kaithal, a student in a Patiala college, was arrested on 12 May.
A case has been registered against Jyoti at the Civil Lines police station in Hisar. The FIR mentions her name as “Jyoti Rani” though her “Travel With Jo” page on Facebook mentions her name as Jyoti Malhotra.
She has a significant social media presence as a travel blogger with around 321,000 followers on Facebook, 132,000 on Instagram and 377,000 subscribers on YouTube. Previously employed at a private firm in Gurugram, she lost her job during the pandemic and later turned to full-time blogging, it is learnt.
In her social media content, Malhotra has not only portrayed Pakistan in a positive light but also shared sensitive information, a police source told The Print.
She was allegedly tasked with promoting a positive image of Pakistan and used for propaganda and espionage activities against India, the source added.
The Police said that the investigation so far has confirmed that she has been in contact with Pakistan’s ISI.
“By engaging in suspicious activities with a citizen of an enemy country who has been declared persona non grata by the Government of India on charges of espionage, and by exchanging India’s sensitive intelligence information, Jyoti has committed an offense that endangers the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India,” a police note said.
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What the FIR says
The FIR registered on 16 May, 2025, under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’s (BNS) Section 152 (acts endangering sovereignty unity and integrity of India), contains detailed allegations against Malhotra, a resident of Hisar.
ThePrint has accessed the FIR, which is written as a first-person account by Malhotra based on her statements during questioning at the Hisar Civil Lines Police Station. It also mentions the travel vlogger’s passport number.
In 2023, she visited the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi to apply for a visa, where she met Ahsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, the FIR details. She exchanged contact details with him and subsequently made two trips to Pakistan.
During her visits to Pakistan, Danish introduced her to his associate Ali Ahsan, who arranged her accommodation and travel within Pakistan.
The FIR states that Ali Ahsan facilitated meetings between Jyoti and Pakistani security and intelligence officials.
She also met individuals identified as Shakir and Rana Shahbaz, saving Shakir’s mobile number under the name “Jatt Randhawa” in her phone to avoid suspicion.
After returning to India, Jyoti maintained regular contact with these individuals through encrypted social media platforms including WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Telegram, exchanging information considered prejudicial to India’s security.
She also met repeatedly with Danish at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.
The FIR further mentions that Danish was declared “persona non grata” by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on 13 May, 2025, on espionage charges and was ordered to leave the country.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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Hmm. Bjp and hindutva types demonize Indian Muslims as Pakistan supporters. But so far every spy and traitor caught is a Hindu. Will they and their families be told to go to Pakistan?