The North News
Chandigarh, May 31
Jyoti Malhotra, the YouTuber arrested on charges of espionage for Pakistan, visited several religious sites in India, including temples in Kerala, according to investigators examining her travel history and social media content.
Malhotra, who had cultivated an image as a harmless travel vlogger, was seen at the Kaasipuram Sree Vanasastha Temple in Palakkad and another temple in Payyannur, video footage revealed. Her visits came to light during a forensic analysis of her video recordings by intelligence agencies. The investigating agencies are now probing whether her temple visits were part of a wider effort to gather sensitive information for Pakistani handlers.
Currently remanded to judicial custody, Malhotra has drawn scrutiny for her extensive travels across Kerala, where she posted videos promoting the state’s tourist sites. But officials suspect the videos also discreetly captured key infrastructure and strategic locations.
“She appeared to be just another travel content creator, but our findings point to a far more serious role—potentially working for a foreign intelligence agency,” a senior police officer said.
Police say Malhotra had developed close ties with a man identified as ‘Danish’—an alleged ISI agent operating under diplomatic cover at the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi. Sources claim Danish lured Malhotra into a honey trap, providing logistical support for her international travels and allegedly facilitating the exchange of sensitive information.
Malhotra reportedly visited Pakistan in 2023, 2024, and again earlier this year, including a stay just before the April 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians, many targeted based on their religious identity. The Police say she had also travelled to Pahalgam before the massacre, raising suspicions about the timing and purpose of her visit.
Police further claim that Malhotra made a separate, unexplained trip to China—an excursion now also under scrutiny. With no known major sources of income, her repeated international travel has prompted authorities to question who financed her journeys. “How did a relatively obscure YouTuber afford so many overseas trips?” a police official said.
Her arrest followed the identification of Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, and his suspected links to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). According to intelligence sources, Danish was instrumental in grooming Malhotra and drawing her into a covert espionage network operating under the veneer of digital content creation.
“This is not a one-off case,” said one official. “It’s becoming clear that social media is now a theatre of modern-day intelligence warfare.”
While the investigation expands into potential links between online influencers and hostile state actors, Malhotra’s father has denied any wrongdoing by his daughter, stating he was unaware of her visits to Pakistan or China.
As agencies continue to peel back the layers of Malhotra’s online persona, the case serves as a stark warning about how espionage can be disguised behind cheerful thumbnails, friendly vlogs, and tourist trails—broadcasting in HD, but quietly chipping away at national security.
