YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra Sent to Four-Day Police Remand Over Alleged Links with Pakistan

According to Hisar SP Shashank Kumar Sawan, Malhotra was being developed as an asset and had maintained ties with other YouTube influencers and Pakistani national

The Hisar District Court on Thursday remanded YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra to four days in police custody following her arrest for allegedly sharing sensitive information and maintaining continuous contact with a Pakistani citizen.

Inspector General of Police (CID Crime Branch), Sarthak Sarangi, confirmed that investigations are ongoing and multiple aspects of the case are being verified. “We have just received information that Jyoti Malhotra visited Odisha's Jagannath Temple in Puri and shared related content on Instagram. She also travelled to Chilika and Konark and was reportedly in touch with a YouTuber based in Odisha. All these details are under verification, and we are in constant communication with our counterparts in Haryana,” said Sarangi.

Puri Superintendent of Police Agrawal added, “Puri Police has launched an inquiry. We are coordinating with police officials in Haryana as well as central investigative agencies.”

Hisar SP Shashank Kumar Sawan stated that Malhotra was being developed as an "asset" and had maintained associations with other YouTube influencers as well as Pakistani nationals. “She was in contact with multiple YouTube influencers, some of whom were reportedly in touch with Pakistan Information Officers (PIOs). Jyoti Malhotra also visited Pakistan on sponsored trips and was present there prior to the Pahalgam terror attack. The investigation is focused on tracing any potential linkages,” he explained.

According to preliminary interrogation, Malhotra admitted to meeting a Pakistani official, Ahsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, at the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2023 during a visa application process. She has reportedly travelled to Pakistan on two occasions and is suspected of passing classified information.

Her father, Haris Malhotra, acknowledged that his daughter creates YouTube content and had visited Pakistan. He has requested authorities to return the mobile phones seized during the investigation.

Further investigations are underway involving state and central intelligence agencies to uncover the full extent of the alleged espionage.