The police is believed to have come across Pakistan intelligence officers numbers in her mobile saved under aliases.
| Photo Credit:
Gerasimov174
Jyoti Malhotra — the host of popular travel account on YouTube, ‘Travel with Jo’ — was arrested from Hisar in Haryana along with five others on charges of leaking sensitive information including about defence installations to Pakistan.
The arrests come at a time when India continues to remain alert to Pakistan designs though the cross border hostilities between the two neighbours have subsided.
After her arrest from Hisar under Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, she was produced before a local court and remanded to five day custody of the local police.
The Pakistan intelligence officials tapped her owing to the popularity of her travel account which had 3.77 lakh subscribers. As per an FIR filed by Hisar Civil Lines Police Station, she came in contact with Pakistan High Commission staffer, Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, suspected to be an intelligence officer, in Delhi in 2023.
After befriending Malhotra, Danish is said to have handed her over to another Pakistan intelligence operative but remained in touch with her through encrypted platforms. She met Danish several times at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.
Later on, she went to Pakistan twice in 2023 and there was introduced to Ali Ehwan, Rana Shahbaz and Shakir, who is also suspected to be from the ISI. She had posted, on Instagram, “Indian girl in Pakistan” and “Pakistan me 150/ ki chai” .
The police is believed to have come across Pakistan intelligence officers numbers in her mobile. Interestingly, their numbers were saved in assumed Indian names like Shahbaz as “Jatt Randhawa” to avoid suspicion.
India, in the meantime, had expelled Pakistani diplomats including the ones that were in touch with Malhotra, on charges of indulging in espionage.
She was in contact with these persons through WhatsApp, Telegram and Snapchat, and passed on sensitive information to them, according to the FIR. She had also visited Indonesia and Bali.
Jyoti was picked up by the police a day after Davinder Singh, a 25-year-old post-graduation student, was arrested from Kaithal in Haryana, for his alleged links with Pakistani intelligence agencies.
An FIR was registered against him on Sunday for uploading photos on social media with weapons, the State police said.
Prior to him, Nauman Ilahi, 24, was arrested from Panipat for allegedly supplying sensitive information to some individuals in Pakistan.
Published on May 17, 2025
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