‘No Idea About Her Travels’: Father of Spy-Accused YouTuber Breaks Silence

GG News Bureau
Hisar, 20th May: Harish Malhotra, the father of arrested YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, said on Monday he had no knowledge of his daughter’s visits to Pakistan or her activities on social media. His statement comes days after Jyoti was arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan and sharing sensitive military information.

Jyoti Malhotra, a 33-year-old resident of Hisar in Haryana, runs a popular travel YouTube channel called Travel with JO with nearly four lakh subscribers. She is accused of maintaining contact with a Pakistani intelligence official posted at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and allegedly visited Pakistan at least twice.

“She used to tell me she was going to Delhi. She never told me anything about going to Pakistan,” said Mr. Malhotra in an interview with ANI. He also distanced himself from his earlier claim that Jyoti travelled to Pakistan to shoot videos. “She used to make videos at home,” he added, claiming ignorance of her YouTube or other social media activities.

Among the over 450 videos uploaded to her channel, several documented her travels in Pakistan, including titles such as Indian Girl in Pakistan, Exploring Lahore, and At Katas Raj Temple.

According to Hisar Superintendent of Police Shashank Kumar Sawan, Jyoti visited Kashmir before the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, and had visited Pakistan prior to that. Investigators are probing a possible link between these visits and her alleged espionage activities.

Authorities claim Pakistani intelligence was developing Jyoti as an asset and that she had met several high-profile individuals in Pakistan. During the four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack, she was allegedly in touch with a Pakistani officer.

Jyoti Malhotra is among a dozen individuals arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan amid heightened cross-border tensions. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam attack, targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The conflict escalated briefly with missile and drone attacks from Pakistan, which were thwarted by Indian defences, before a ceasefire was reached on May 10.