New Delhi: The arrest of Haryana-based travel vlogger Jyoti Malhotra and five other Indian nationals on charges of spying for Pakistan has opened up a can of worms.
Jyoti, who ran a popular YouTube channel and travelled to Pakistan in 2023 courtesy of a visa arranged by commission agents, allegedly passed sensitive information about Indian locations and actively portrayed a positive narrative about Pakistan online.
A senior police officer revealed on Sunday how such influencers are being recruited for spying.
Hisar superintendent of police (SP) Shashank Kumar Sawan told mediapersons that Pakistan’s Intelligence operatives are using Indian social media influencers to ‘push their narrative’.
“Modern warfare is not only fought on the border. The PIOs are trying to recruit some social media influencers, and they use that to push their narrative. We received inputs from the central agencies, and we arrested Jyoti Malhotra. She had visited Pakistan multiple times and China once. She was in contact with the PIOs. We have taken her on a 5-day police remand,” Sawan said while speaking on the Jyoti spy case.
He also claimed that Jyoti was allegedly in contact with Pakistani Intelligence Operatives during the recent India-Pakistan conflict, which escalated sharply following Operation Sindoor.
“We are analysing her (Jyoti’s) financial details. During the conflict (Indo-Pak), she was in touch with the PIOs… Her travel details are defying her total income,” the senior cop said.
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“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… 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,” Sawan added.
#WATCH | Hisar | “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… She was in Pakistan before the Pahalgam attack, and the… pic.twitter.com/OD2wD1vzic
— ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2025
Father defends Jyoti
Jyoti’s father Harish Malhotra defended her, saying that his daughter had visited Pakistan to shoot videos and questioned why she could not contact her friends living in the country if she wished to do so.
“She used to visit Pakistan and other places to shoot videos for YouTube. If she has some friends there, can’t she call them? I have no demands, but give us our phones. A case has been registered against us,” Malhotra told ANI.
He claimed that police came to his house on Thursday and took their bank statements, laptop and passports.
