Indian authorities have arrested Jyoti Malhotra, a well-known YouTuber and travel influencer from Haryana, over suspicions of espionage and alleged links to Pakistani intelligence.
The Haryana Police confirmed the arrest, which comes amid recent escalations in India-Pakistan tensions. Malhotra is accused of making repeated trips to Pakistan, with the most recent one in March 2025, and allegedly maintaining communication with Ahsan-ur-Rahim, a Pakistani High Commission official who was expelled from India on May 13 for suspected spying.
According to Shashank Kumar Sawan, Superintendent of Police in Hisar, Malhotra had ongoing contact with Pakistani agents, undertook multiple sponsored trips to Pakistan, and might be connected to a broader espionage network. She is also being investigated for possible ties to the recent deadly attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, which targeted tourists.
Her father has denied the accusations, insisting that all of her travel to Pakistan was done legally and with the necessary permissions. “She’s a travel content creator, not a spy,” he stated.
On social media, Malhotra portrays herself as a “modern girl with old ideas,” sharing travel stories with her 377,000 YouTube subscribers and over 133,000 Instagram followers. Her content includes visits to various countries such as Bangladesh, China, Thailand, the UAE, and Indonesia, in addition to Pakistan.
Authorities have raised concerns over her funding sources, suggesting that her frequent international travel might not match her declared income. Investigators say her first encounter with Rahim occurred in 2023 during a visa application at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi. Her last video from Pakistan, posted in March, shows her attending a Ramadan dinner at the commission.
Other videos on her channel include visits to religious sites, marketplaces, and interactions with locals in Pakistan.
Her detention comes amid a wider diplomatic fallout between India and Pakistan, marked by reciprocal expulsions of embassy staff over spying allegations. These events followed Indian airstrikes on May 7 targeting what it claimed were terrorist facilities in Pakistan, allegedly in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack. Pakistan has denied involvement, and a ceasefire was brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump on May 10.