Police in India have arrested a neighborhood YouTuber on suspicions of spying for Pakistan.
Jyoti Malhotra, a journey influencer from the northern Indian state of Haryana, allegedly travelled to the neighbouring nation a number of occasions – her final journey was in March 2025.
Police in Haryana allege that she was in contact with a Pakistan Excessive Fee official, who was expelled from India earlier this month.
The YouTuber’s father has denied allegations that she was a spy, saying she went to Pakistan after buying mandatory permissions.
Ms Malhotra describes herself on social media as a “fashionable lady with outdated concepts”, and has 377,000 subscribers on YouTube and 133,000 followers on Instagram.
However officers have questioned how she financed her journey across the globe, together with her movies documenting visits to locations like Bangladesh, China, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia. She has additionally visited a number of Indian locations and non secular locations. Police say it defies her recognized supply of earnings.
Police declare Ms Malhotra was in contact with “Pakistani intelligence operatives” and had steady contact with a Pakistani citizen.
Ms Malhotra can also be being investigated for any hyperlinks with the Pahalgam assault, Shashank Kumar Sawan, the superintendent of police in Haryana’s Hisar district, instructed ANI information company.
They are saying they’ve leads on others who could have collaborated with the influencer, who doesn’t have direct entry to any navy or defence info.
“She was in contact with different YouTube influencers… She used to go to Pakistan on sponsored journeys,” Mr Sawan added.
Her arrest comes after the Indian authorities asked Ahsan-ur-Rahim, the Pakistan Excessive Fee official with whom the YouTuber was alleged to have been involved, to depart the nation on 13 Could, alleging he had indulged in actions “not in line with his official standing in India”.
Pakistan additionally requested an Indian embassy employees member in Islamabad to depart for indulging in actions “incompatible” along with his privileged standing.
In keeping with a grievance registered by the police, Ms Malhotra met Ahsan-ur-Rahim for the primary time in 2023 when she had visited the Pakistan Excessive Fee in Delhi, looking for a visa to go to the neighbouring nation.
Her final video on Pakistan was uploaded in March, by which she was seen within the Pakistan Excessive Fee in Delhi attending a Ramadan dinner.
In different movies from Pakistan, she is seen visiting Hindu and Sikh temples, well-known native markets, and interacting with locals.
Arrests in India and Pakistan over allegations of spying are usually not unusual.
Ms Malhotra’s arrest comes following days of navy tensions between the neighbours earlier this month.
On 7 Could, India struck what it calls “terror infrastructure” inside Pakistan, days after a lethal militant assault on vacationers in Pahalgam, a picturesque valley in Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any involvement within the assaults.
After 4 tense days of lethal clashes between the nuclear-armed neighbours, each international locations agreed to a ceasefire on 10 Could, introduced by US President Donald Trump.
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