New Delhi:
The case of social media influencer Jyoti Malhotra, who has been arrested on prices of spying for Pakistan, is a giant instance of how fashionable warfare doesn’t essentially imply combating on the border, a senior police officer in Haryana’s Hisar instructed reporters.
The function of social media influencers who can cover in plain sight has come below scrutiny now.
It additionally defies clarification how Ms Malhotra’s journey prices may be coated by her revenue, the police officer mentioned.
Whereas almost all Indians who journey to Pakistan are monitored on the police stage and may go to solely these locations talked about within the visa, Ms Malhotra allegedly obtained VIP therapy as a result of her hyperlinks with Pakistan Excessive Fee officer Danish and different intelligence operatives. She allegedly obtained safety from the police throughout her tour of Pakistan.
Ms Malhotra’s YouTube channel ‘TravelwithJo’ has 3.82 lakh subscribers; her Instagram profile and Fb Web page with the identical title have 1.39 lakh and three.2 lakh subscribers, respectively. She additionally runs the web site travelwithjo.in the place she talks about her journeys.
“Trendy warfare will not be solely fought on the border. We’ve info that PIOs try to recruit social media influencers to make use of them for pushing their [Pakistan’s] narrative,” Hisar Superintendent of Police (SP) Shashank Kumar instructed reporters at the moment.
PIO is brief for Pakistani intelligence operatives.
Mr Kumar mentioned they arrested Ms Malhotra based mostly on inputs from central businesses about her actions, together with maintaining in contact with Pakistani intelligence operatives.
“We obtained inputs from the central businesses, and we arrested Jyoti Malhotra. She visited Pakistan a number of instances and China as soon as. She was in touch with the PIOs. We’ve taken her on a five-day police remand. We’re analysing her monetary particulars and transactions, and who all she met. Through the battle, she was in contact with the PIOs… Her journey particulars defy her complete identified supply of revenue,” Mr Kumar instructed reporters, referring to the battle that broke out after Pakistan-linked terrorists killed 26 vacationers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam and the following Indian response within the type of precision missile strikes on terror infrastructure.
Mr Kumar mentioned whereas Ms Malhotra was in contact with the PIOs, the social media influencer didn’t have direct entry to any vital defence info.
“We are going to do a forensic evaluation of her digital tools like laptop computer and cellular as soon as we seize them. A number of groups are analysing all the things,” the SP mentioned.
#WATCH | Jyoti, a resident of Haryana’s Hisar, has been arrested for allegedly sharing delicate info and being in steady contact with a Pakistani citizen.
SP Hisar Shashank Kumar Sawan says, “Trendy warfare will not be solely fought on the border. The PIOs try to… pic.twitter.com/fFKP6KBSKK
— ANI (@ANI) Might 18, 2025
She reportedly got here on the radar of safety businesses when she went to China instantly after coming back from Pakistan in 2024. She toured Pakistan for 12 days in April 2024. After this, she went to China in June. There, she moved round in luxurious automobiles and visited jewelry outlets in lots of locations. This made safety businesses in India suspicious about her motive and expenditure, after which they started surveillance on her.
Ms Malhotra allegedly collected intelligence about Indian places and gave it to her Pakistani handlers below the pretext of constructing YouTube movies.
She attended an Iftar occasion on the Pakistani Excessive Fee on March 23 and uploaded images on social media.
On the occasion, she met and spoke with the Pakistani officer, Danish, who launched his spouse to the social media influencer. Ms Malhotra additionally met some Chinese language officers on the Iftar occasion. Her social media posts heaped praises on the preparations made on the Pakistani Excessive Fee.
The social media influencer’s father Harish Malhotra alleged she was being framed.
“She instructed me that she has not achieved something flawed. She was once more known as for interrogation on Friday morning. Then, on Friday night time itself, the police introduced her again residence. After confiscating all of the belongings associated to her, the police returned to the police station with Jyoti. Then it was identified that Jyoti had been arrested,” he instructed information company IANS.
Probe Towards One other Social Media Influencer
The Odisha Police have additionally began an investigation into alleged hyperlinks between a Puri-based YouTuber and Ms Malhotra, information company PTI reported on Sunday.
The girl in Puri travelled to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan just lately, Puri SP Vinit Agrawal mentioned.
“We discovered that Jyoti Malhotra visited Puri final yr, and we’re verifying the actual fact. Something extra may be shared after the verification,” Mr Agrawal mentioned.
On whether or not the lady from Puri shared intelligence inputs with Ms Malhotra, Mr Agrawal mentioned, “The Haryana Police are investigating the matter and we’re offering them the required help.”
The police are “inspecting the target” of Ms Malhotra’s go to to Puri, and looking for out “the place she stayed, whom she contacted and any doable suspicious actions”, the Puri SP mentioned.
The Odisha Police didn’t disclose the identification of the Puri YouTuber.