Who is YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra arrested for espionage?

Haryana: Jyoti Malhotra, a Haryana-based YouTuber who was arrested on espionage charges, had maintained ties with other YouTube influencers and Pakistani nationals.

Jyoti reportedly visited Pahalgam in January 2025. She was in Pakistan before the Pahalgam attack. According to the police, the investigation is on to establish linkages, if there are any.

The 33-year-old YouTuber was arrested under the Official Secrets Act and BNS Section 152.

Five other people were also arrested for allegedly spying on India and providing information to Pakistan’s ISI since the launch of Operation Sindoor.

These arrests come amid tensions between India and Pakistan following the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that left 26 people dead.

Who is Jyoti Malhotra?

The police found that Jyoti Malhotra, who runs a YouTube channel `Travel with JO’, hails from Hisar in Haryana, had visited Puri in September 2024 and came in contact with a woman in the coastal town, who is also a YouTuber.

She operates a YouTube channel and an Instagram account with around 3.77 lakh subscribers and 1.33 lakh followers. Police sources said she was allegedly in contact with a Pakistani staffer working at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.

According to the FIR, during her visit to Pakistan in 2024, Jyoti met a man identified as Ahsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish and continued communication with him via WhatsApp after returning to India. She further introduced her to members of Pakistani Intelligence and security agencies.

There are also some videos from her visit to Pakistan -- 'Indian Girl in Pakistan', 'Indian Girl Exploring Lahore', 'Indian Girl at Katas Raj Temple' and 'Indian Girl Rides Luxury Bus in Pakistan' on her YouTube channel.

What did the police reveal?

Speaking to the media, Hisar, Shashank Kumar Sawan said, "They were developing her (Jyoti Malhotra) as an asset. She was in touch with other YouTube influencers, and they were also in touch with the PIOs. She used to go to Pakistan, like on sponsored trips, and she was in Pakistan before the Pahalgam attack, and the investigation is on to establish linkages, if there are any. We are also investigating, as we have leads that other people were also involved with her."

During the preliminary investigation, the woman told the police that she went to the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2023 to apply for a visa and met a man named Ahsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish. She also said that after exchanging numbers, she started talking to Ahsan-ur-Rahim through WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat, and travelled twice to Pakistan. It was Ahsan-ur-Rahim who arranged for her stay and travel and arranged meetings with Pakistani security and intelligence agencies.

Photos of the 33-year-old are seen meeting with Pakistan High Commission official Ehsan-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish.

Danish, who has since been declared persona non grata by the Indian government and expelled on May 13, 2025, allegedly introduced Jyoti to multiple Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs). She reportedly saved the contact numbers of her Pakistani handlers under deceptive names to evade suspicion.

She is also said to have shared sensitive information concerning Indian locations and was actively used to project a positive image of Pakistan on social media.

Post by J&K former DGP :

In a post on X, Shesh Paul Vaid, former Director General of Police (DGP) of Jammu and Kashmir, posted: "Is it a coincidence that YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was honey-trapped by Danish, a Pakistani High Commission employee (most probably an ISI person), visited Pahalgam in January 2025? She was reportedly passing on sensitive information to ISI handlers. Our intelligence services normally keep under surveillance those frequently visiting the countries or High Commissions of enemy nations like Pakistan, China, and now Bangladesh".

He stated that this is not unusual — it is a common tactic used by Pakistan's ISI to exploit young boys and girls in India to extract sensitive information. Investigation agencies must thoroughly interrogate whether she passed any information related to national security to her boyfriend in Pakistan.

Jyoti was at the Telangana event:

Videos on social media show that Jyoti also attended events in Telangana two years back.

A video shows Jyoti attending the Vandhe Bharat train launch in Secunderabad railway station, which was also attended by Ministers Bandi Sanjay, Kishan Reddy.