'If my daughter has friends in Pakistan, can't she call them?': Father of alleged 'spy' YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra

TOI City Desk / TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Updated: May 18, 2025, 21:31 IST

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Jyoti Malhotra, a YouTuber, has been arrested by Haryana Police on suspicion of espionage. Her father claims she visited Pakistan solely for YouTube content creation with proper permissions. Police allege Malhotra was in contact with Pakistani intelligence, met an officer in Delhi, and shared sensitive information. Authorities seized phones and laptops, registering a case under the Official Secrets Act.

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NEW DELHI: The father of Jyoti Malhotra, a YouTuber arrested by Haryana Police on alleged spying charges, has claimed that "she visited Pakistan to make videos for her YouTube channel and not for any illegal activity." “She used to visit Pakistan and other places to shoot videos for YouTube,” Haris Malhotra told news agency ANI. He added that his daughter had received the necessary permissions to travel to Pakistan. Haryana Police detained Jyoti Malhotra in Hisar, accusing her of being in contact with Pakistani intelligence personnel and sharing sensitive information. Authorities say she met a Pakistani officer in Delhi, later travelled to Pakistan and remained in contact with Pakistani handlers. Her father, however, questioned the police action, saying: “If she has some friends there, can't she call them? I have no demands, but give us our phones. A case has been registered against us.”

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He also said police had taken away their phones, laptops, bank documents and passports. The arrest was made under the Official Secrets Act and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Hisar DSP Kamaljeet said the woman was remanded to five days in police custody. “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,” the officer said.

“She was in continuous contact with a Pakistani citizen,” DSP Kamaljeet added. Police sources say that during questioning, Malhotra claimed she first approached the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2023 for a visa, where she met a man identified as Ahsan-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish. She later began talking to him regularly and visited Pakistan twice, investigators said. According to the police, she revealed that Rahim’s associate had arranged her stay and introduced her to members of Pakistani security and intelligence services.

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