Travel YouTuber arrested for spying for Pakistan; 5 others also held

New Delhi, May 17: Jyoti Malhotra, a 33-year-old travel vlogger who ran the YouTube channel Travel With Jo, has been arrested from Hisar, Haryana, on charges of espionage for Pakistan. Authorities allege that Malhotra shared sensitive military information with Pakistani intelligence officials and maintained regular contact with operatives linked to the Pakistan High Commission, NDTV and several national media reports.

Police say Malhotra had visited Pakistan at least twice after meeting a diplomat, Ehsan-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish, in Delhi in 2023. Rahim, recently declared persona non grata by the Indian government, was expelled last week for espionage following India’s military operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Investigations suggest Malhotra used encrypted messaging platforms to maintain communication with Pakistani contacts, including intelligence officials, under disguised identities.

She has been charged with endangering India’s sovereignty and has been remanded to five days in police custody.

Four other arrests have been made in related cases over the past week, media reported. In Panipat, a 24-year-old security guard, Nauman Ilahi, was detained for allegedly passing information to Pakistan in exchange for money routed through a relative’s account. In Kaithal, Devendra Singh Dhillon, a 25-year-old postgraduate student, was arrested for allegedly sharing military-related content with Pakistan’s ISI after a visit through the Kartarpur Corridor. Two additional individuals were arrested by Punjab Police earlier on similar charges. Authorities say the arrests are part of a coordinated investigation into an expanding network of espionage operations allegedly targeting Indian military facilities.