Haryana travel blogger arrested for spying, linked to Pak intelligence network

A Hisar woman travel blogger was arrested for allegedly spying and passing sensitive information to Pakistani operatives, marking the third arrest from Haryana this week after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire.

Travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra, a resident of Hisar, was arrested after she confessed to sharing sensitive information with Pakistani operatives.

She was booked under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act. She has been sent to a five-day police remand.

Confirming her arrest, Hisar police spokesman Vikas Kumar said that Jyoti Malhotra was taken into custody and officials are questioning her to gather more details.

An FIR was registered at Hisar Civil Lines police station based on a complaint lodged by sub-inspector Sanjay.

According to the FIR, the blogger visited the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi in 2023, where she came into contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, a staffer at the Pakistan High Commission (PHC) in New Delhi. 

India has since then expelled the Pakistan official. A statement from the external affairs ministry said the government had declared the staffer of the Pakistani mission “persona non grata for indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status in India”. The statement did not give further details of the matter.

The woman blogger had visited Pakistan twice in 2023. Jyoti Malhotra ran the YouTube channel “Travel with Jo.”

She is part of a network that spanned across Haryana and Punjab, with key operatives acting as agents, financial conduits, and informants.

Danish, who has since been declared persona non grata by the Indian government and expelled on May 13, 2025, allegedly introduced Jyoti to multiple Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs).

She allegedly shared sensitive information concerning Indian locations and was actively used to project a positive image of Pakistan on social media.

Investigators say she also entered into an intimate relationship with a PIO and even travelled to Bali, Indonesia with him. During Danish’s stay in Delhi, she continued coordinating with him, further raising suspicions.

Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini said that the investigation agencies are on the job.