In a major breakthrough, social media influencer and travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra has been arrested for spying for Pakistan and leaking sensitive information to its intelligence handlers. Her arrest has revealed a trend among Pakistani handlers to recruit Indian influencers to promote their propaganda.
How Influencers Are Being Recruited
Addressing the media on Sunday, Hisar Superintendent of Police (SP) Shashank Kumar Sawan revealed that Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs) have been targeting Indian social media influencers to advance their narrative.
“Modern warfare is not only being waged at the border. The PIOs are attempting to recruit some social media influencers and they take advantage of that to promote their narrative. We took inputs from the central agencies and arrested Jyoti Malhotra. She had traveled to Pakistan several times and China too. She was in touch with the PIOs. We have taken her for a 5-day police remand,” he said.
Contact During Indo-Pak War and Op Sindoor
As per SP Sawan, Malhotra was reportedly in contact with Pakistani intelligence officials during recent India-Pakistan tensions, particularly after India’s Operation Sindoor. “We are examining her financial data. In the war (Indo-Pak), she was in contact with the PIOs. Her travel data is contradicting her complete income,” he said.
Sawan further added that the accused was being ‘developed as an asset’ by Pakistani handlers. “They were grooming her (Jyoti Malhotra) as an asset. She had contact with other YouTube personalities, and they were also in contact with the PIOs. She used to travel to Pakistan, like on sponsored tours. She had gone to Pakistan prior to the Pahalgam attack, and the inquiry is on to lay down linkages, if there are any. We are also inquiring, as we have inputs that other individuals were also getting involved with her,” he said.
FIR Details and Charges
Malhotra, who is from Hisar, was taken into custody after she admitted to having shared sensitive information with Pakistani handlers. She has been charged under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act. A five-day police remand has been given.
The FIR, filed at the Hisar Civil Lines police station on a complaint by Sub-Inspector Sanjay, mentions that she had been in touch with a Pakistani High Commission employee, Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, while visiting the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi in 2023. She is charged with divulging sensitive location-based details and as per allegation, was using her position for spreading positivity about Pakistan on social media.
Family Responds
Her father, Harish Malhotra, has come to the defense of his daughter, stating that her visits to Pakistan were for content creation. “She had come to the neighboring country to make videos,” he asked rhetorically, “Why can’t she call her friends residing in the country if she wanted to do that?”
The probe continues as police investigate her financial activities, travel records, and potential connections with other people who might be members of the suspected spy ring.
