YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, from Haryana, was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of spying for Pakistan, and Odisha Police have opened an investigation into his visit to Puri. A video that Malhotra posted on her Instagram account of her visit to Puri's Shree Jagannath Temple went viral following her detention. She had also posted photos to Instagram from the Puri seashore. Puri police jumped into action and opened an investigation as soon as the video went viral. They are checking the accusations after learning that Malhotra has a friend in Puri.
Puri SP, Vinit Agarwal, said, “We got some videos of Malhotra that she supposedly posted on social media after filming them during her trip to Puri last year. There has been a thorough investigation to determine whether she knows anyone in Puri, whether she received any help during her trip, and the locations she visited.”
Jyoti Malhotra, a well-known travel blogger with millions of subscribers, runs the YouTube channel Travel with Joe. In 2023, she allegedly met ISI agents when visiting Pakistan on a visa provided by the Pakistani High Commission. She first became close with Eshas-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish, who worked at the Pakistan High Commission. She met other ISI agents, like Ali Ahsan and Shakir alias Rana Shahbaz, through Danish.
Investigators found that Jyoti continued to communicate with these agents through encrypted messaging apps like Snapchat, Telegram, and WhatsApp. She allegedly gave these agents critical information in addition to posting positive posts about Pakistan on social media.
Additionally, it has come to light that Jyoti became romantically involved with one of the Pakistani intelligence officers and recently went to Bali, Indonesia, with him. Authorities think Pakistan used her social media following to collect information and spread anti-Indian propaganda.
Malhotra has a sizable fan base on Instagram and YouTube, where she shared multiple videos from her trip to the neighbouring nations earlier this year. She was arrested along with 6 others for allegedly sharing private information with Pakistani spies.