Arrested YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra Attended Iftaar Party At Pakistan High Commission In Delhi, Met Now Declared Person Non Grata Danish

New Delhi: Indian YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who has been arrested among 5 others for spying for Pakistan, attended an Iftaar function at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi last year.

Jyoti Malhotra shared photos and videos of her attending the event, where she met an embassy official named Danish Rahim, also known as Ehsan-ur-Rahim. On May 13, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) declared Danish persona non grata for engaging in anti-India activities and ordered him to leave the country within 24 hours. This came after Pahalgam terror attack and India's counter-terror Operation Sindoor.

The 33-year-old YouTuber runs a travel channel called ‘Travel With Jo’. She had also posted a video on her YouTube channel expressing her interest in visiting Pakistan and seeking a visa and other permissions.

Reports suggest that Malhotra also met Rahim’s wife during the Iftaar gathering, indicating that it was not their first meeting. In the video from the event, she is seen warmly greeting Rahim and expressing her delight at meeting him.

Malhotra even invited Rahim and his wife to visit her home in Hisar, Haryana. Later in the video, she is seen asking other attendees whether they have visited Pakistan and inquiring if they could assist her in obtaining a visa.

A few days after the government declared Rahim persona non grata, security agencies arrested Malhotra and five others on charges of espionage for Pakistan.

Who is Jyoti Malhotra, Indian YouTuber suspected of spying for Pakistan 

Jyoti Malhotra, aka Jyoti Rani, is an Indian YouTuber who runs her own channel, ‘Travel with Jo’. She is a resident of Hisar in Haryana, and the daughter of Haris Kumar. She was questioned for allegedly passing sensitive information to Pakistan.

According to reports, Malhotra met a Pakistani officer, Ehsan-ur-Rahim, in Delhi, traveled to Pakistan twice, and shared sensitive information.

She has been arrested, along with five others, on charges of espionage for Pakistan. They have been booked under the Official Secrets Act and other sections of the BNS and have been sent to five-day remand.

Hisar DSP revealed that authorities recovered "some suspicious items" from her mobile phone and laptop.

"Yesterday, based on the inputs we had, we arrested Jyoti, daughter of Haris Kumar, under the Official Secrets Act and BNS 152. We recovered some suspicious items from her mobile phone and laptop. She has been placed under a five-day remand, and further investigation is ongoing. She was in continuous contact with a Pakistani citizen," said Kamaljeet.

During the initial investigation, Malhotra told police that she had visited the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2023 to apply for a visa, where she met a man named Ehsan-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish. Following this, she traveled to Pakistan.

On her YouTube channel, Jyoti Malhotra has uploaded several video of visiting Pakistan.