Fact Check: Arrested YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra spotted with Alia Bhatt, Pooja Bhatt? No, it is Rana Ayyub in picture
An image has been circulating online, claiming it shows arrested vlogger Jyoti Malhotra posing for a photograph with the Bhatts.
By Md Mahfooz Alam
Claim:The image shows YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who has been arrested on charges of espionage for Pakistan, posing with Alia Bhatt and her sister Pooja Bhatt.
Fact:The claim is false. The image shows journalist Rana Ayyub with the Bhatts. The original picture was shared by Ayyub on her social media.
Hyderabad: Jyoti Malhotra, a 33-year-old travel vlogger from Hisar, Haryana, was arrested on May 17, on charges of espionage for Pakistan. Malhotra was reportedly in contact with a Pakistani officer stationed at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi during the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan that followed the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, in which 26 civilians were killed.
In this context, an image has been circulating on social media, claiming that the woman sitting on the couch is Jyoti Malhotra, who is posing with Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt and her sister Pooja Bhatt.
A Facebook user shared the image with the caption, āJyoti Malhotra with Alia Bhatt.ā (Archive)
Find a similar claim on Threads here.
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as the image shows journalist Rana Ayyub with the Bhatts.
A reverse image search led us to the same image posted by Ayyub on X on November 27, 2014. She described the image with Alia and Poojas as a āSister Act.ā
Below is the comparison of Ayyub and Malhotraās images, which confirmed that the claim is false.
Therefore, we conclude that the claim of the vlogger Malhotra posing with Bhatts is false.
