Indian YouTuber arrested for suspected spying on Pakistan

Police in India have arrested a local YouTuber on suspicion of spying on Pakistan.

Joot Malchotra, influencing the journey from the northern Indian state of Hariana, is supposedly traveling to the neighboring country several times – her last trip was in March 2025.

Police in Hariana claim that she was in connection with an employee of the Supreme Committee in Pakistan, who was expelled from India earlier this month.

YouTuber’s father denied allegations that she was a spy, saying she had gone to Pakistan after she had acquired the necessary permissions.

D -Malchotra describes herself on social media as a “modern girl with old ideas” and has 377,000 YouTube subscribers and 133,000 followers on Instagram.

But the officers asked how she financed her journey around the world, with her videos documenting visits to places such as Bangladesh, China, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia. She has also visited several Indian destinations and religious places. Police claim that this does not oppose her known source of income.

Police claim, Continuous contact with a Pakistani citizen.

D -Malchotra is also investigating about any relationships with the attack of Pahalgham, said Shashank Kumar Savan, police chief in the area of ​​Hariana Hisar, told Ani News Agency.

They say that there are leading others who may have cooperated with the influence that has no direct access to any military or defensive information.

“She was in connection with other YouTube … She was going to Pakistan on sponsored trips,” added G -N -Sauan.

Her arrest comes after the Indian government asked Ahsan-Ur-Rahim, an employee of the Supreme Committee in Pakistan, who is said to have been in contact, to leave the country on May 13, claiming that he has committed himself to activities, “he is not in line with his official status in India.”

Pakistan also asked the staff of the Indian Embassy in Islamabad to leave to indulge in the activities of “incompatible” with his privileged status.

According to a complaint, registered by police, Mrs. Malhotra met with Ahsan-Ur-Rahim for the first time in 2023 when she visited the Supreme Commission in Pakistan in Delhi, asking for a visa to visit the neighboring country.

Her latest video of Pakistan was uploaded in March, in which she was seen at the Pakistan Supreme Commission in Delhi, attending a dinner in Ramadan.

In other videos from Pakistan, she was seen visiting Hindu and Sikhist temples, famous local markets and interacting with locals.

Arrests in India and Pakistan because of the allegations of spying are not uncommon.

The arrest of D -Ja Malchotra comes the next days of military tension between the neighbors this month.

On May 7, India struck what he calls a “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan, days after a deadly belligerent attack on tourists in Pahalgam, a picturesque valley in India administrated Kashmir. Pakistan denied any involvement in the attacks.

After four tense days of deadly clashes between nuclear armed neighbors, both sides agreed to end the fire on May 10, announced by US President Donald Trump.

Follow BBC News India on Instagram., YouTube., X and Facebook