Jyoti Malhotra: Tensions between India and Pakistan have gotten very serious again, especially after a deadly terror attack happened in Pahalgam recently. After that, the Indian army answered with a military action called Operation Sindoor. Since then, the Indian government has been keeping a close eye on people and cracking down on any activities that might go against the country. In the middle of all this, a big story came out. Jyoti Malhotra, a popular travel vlogger who runs a YouTube channel called Travel with Joe and has millions of followers, has been arrested. Indian intelligence says she was spying for Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI.
Officials say that Jyoti had gone to Pakistan back in 2023 after getting a visa from the Pakistan High Commission. During her trip, she met a man named Eshas-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish, who worked at the Pakistan High Commission. After meeting him, she started a close relationship with him, and through him, she got introduced to some ISI agents.
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These agents included people named Ali Ahsan and Shakir, who also went by the name Rana Shahbaz. Investigators say that Jyoti continued to stay in touch with these Pakistani agents through apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat which are encrypted and not easy to track.
They also said she shared content on her social media that showed Pakistan in a positive light. But along with that, they believe she gave away sensitive information to these agents. What’s even more shocking is that she got romantically involved with one of these ISI agents and even travelled with him to Bali, Indonesia. Authorities think the Pakistani agents used her big online influence to push anti-India messages and also to gather important information.
#WATCH | Hisar, Haryana | DSP Kamaljeet says, “Yesterday, based on inputs that we had, we arrested Jyoti, daughter of Haris Kumar, under the Official Secret Act and BNS 152. We have received some suspicious things after we recovered her mobile and laptop. We have taken her on a… https://t.co/C8WB0417BC pic.twitter.com/h13Eo3yn5E
— ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2025
This is seen as part of a bigger plan by Pakistan to emotionally trap and use people for spying. An officer shared, “Pakistan exploited her social media influence for anti-India propaganda and intelligence-gathering purposes.”
More People Caught in Spy Case
Jyoti is not the only one who got arrested. There are five others linked to the case. One of them is her friend Banu Nasreena, a widow from Malerkotla. She was also seen with another woman named Guzala when they visited the Pakistan High Commission on April 23 this year. They got visas the next day, which were again helped by Danish, the same person from the Pakistan High Commission.
The India Today report claimed that Danish started sending money to Guzala ₹10,000 on March 7 via the payment app, PhonePe, and ₹20,000 on March 23 via another payment app, Google Pay. Later he instructed her to divert ₹10,000 to specific recipients in parts: ₹1,800, ₹899, ₹699, and ₹3,000.
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Another person caught is Yameen Mohd, also from Malerkotla. He used to deal with money matters along with Danish. Then there is Devinder Singh Dhillon from Kaithal in Haryana. The police say he sent videos of the Patiala cantonment, which is a military area. There is also Arman from Nuh in Haryana who was involved. Arman gave Indian SIM cards and even went to the Defence Expo 2025 after getting orders from people with links to Pakistan.
Officials told India Today that this whole case is not just about one or two people. It’s part of a big plan where people are tricked emotionally, given money or fake promises like marriage, and then used for spying. The investigation is still going on and more details are coming out as the agencies dig deeper.
