Influencer Jyoti Malhotra was allegedly groomed by Pakistani diplomat ‘Danish’ for spying. Their link began with a 2023 visa meeting and escalated into deep intel sharing.
Jyoti Malhotra, a social media influencer from Haryana who runs a YouTube channel called Travel with JO, is currently under police investigation for allegedly spying for Pakistan.
Her arrest has led to several shocking revelations, with officials stating that she was being cultivated as a long-term “Pakistani asset” and was part of a broader strategy aimed at “narrative warfare.”
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Jyoti had made multiple visits to Pakistan and had shared travel vlogs from those trips on her YouTube channel.
According to investigators, it was during her 2023 visa application process for Pakistan that she came into contact with a man named Danish, later identified as Ehsan-ur-Rahim—an officer with the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
Hisar SP Shashank Kumar Sawan confirmed that Jyoti remained in communication with this Pakistani official during a sensitive and tense period between India and Pakistan, specifically during the four-day conflict that followed Operation Sindoor.
This operation had been launched in response to a deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 innocent civilians.
The Pakistani officer, Danish, who allegedly played a key role in this developing spy network, was later expelled from India and declared persona non grata by the Indian government for engaging in espionage-related activities.
Jyoti reportedly told police that she first met Danish while applying for her visa, and the two began communicating frequently via phone calls.
The FIR filed at Civil Lines Police Station on May 16 also names another individual, Ali Ahwan, who, according to Jyoti, facilitated meetings with Pakistani security and intelligence personnel.
She confessed to meeting officials named Shakir and Rana Shahbaz and saved Shakir’s number in her phone under the pseudonym “Jat Randhawa” to avoid detection.
Even after returning to India, she continued to stay in contact with them through encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat, and began sharing information.
Authorities have indicated that Jyoti had become deeply embedded within Pakistan’s information and influence network.
She was even reportedly invited to exclusive events hosted at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi—some of which were showcased in her YouTube content—raising further suspicions about her involvement in coordinated propaganda efforts.
Her arrest came just days after Danish was expelled from the country on May 13—closely following the ceasefire agreement reached between India and Pakistan.
Investigators are now focusing on tracking the financial transactions linked to her activities, including probing whether her international trips to countries like Pakistan and China were sponsored or if she received privileged access during those visits.
Preliminary reports suggest she was indeed treated as a VIP during her travels.
Further deepening the case, Jyoti Malhotra has been taken into custody by the Hisar police on charges of passing confidential Indian information to Pakistani intelligence handlers and for promoting a positive narrative about Pakistan through her social media.
She has been booked under Sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, along with Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The FIR notes that her interaction with Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish—who was operating under diplomatic cover at the Pakistan High Commission—violated India’s national security protocols.
The Ministry of External Affairs has confirmed that Danish was declared persona non grata for misusing his diplomatic status and engaging in espionage.
The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are working to uncover the full scope of Jyoti Malhotra’s alleged role in the spy ring, the extent of the information she passed on, and the network of individuals and institutions that may have supported or collaborated with her.
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