'Pakistan recruiting influencers': What cops revealed in Jyoti Malhotra case

AMid the halt of societal media influencer Jyoti Malhotra for allegedly undercover work for west pakistan, an functionary on Sunday revealed how such influencers are recruited for spying.Hisar superintendent of police (SP) Shashank Kumar Sawan told the media that Pakistan's Intelligence operatives are using Indian social media influencers to ‘push their narrative’."Modern warfare is not only fought on the border. The PIOs are trying to recruit some social media influencers, and they use that to push their narrative. We received inputs from the central agencies, and we arrested Jyoti Malhotra. She had visited Pakistan multiple times and China once. She was in contact with the PIOs. We have taken her on a 5-day police remand,” Sawan told the media.The police officer also revealed that Jyoti Malhotra was allegedly in contact with the Pakistani Intelligence Operatives during the recent conflict between the two countries, which escalated in the aftermath of India’s Operation Sindoor.“We are analysing her financial details. During the conflict (Indo-Pak), she was in touch with the PIOs... Her travel details are defying her total income," he added."They were developing her (Jyoti Malhotra) as an asset. She was in touch with other YouTube influencers, and they were also in touch with the PIOs... She used to go to Pakistan, like on sponsored trips... She was in Pakistan before the Pahalgam attack, and the investigation is on to establish linkages, if there are any. We are also investigating, as we have leads that other people were also involved with her," the SP also revealed.The arrest of Jyoti MalhotraTravel blogger Jyoti Malhotra 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.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 placed under a five-day police remand.An FIR was registered at the 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.She allegedly shared sensitive information concerning Indian locations and was actively used to project a positive image of Pakistan on social media.Her father, Harish Malhotra, stated that his daughter had visited the neighbouring country to shoot videos and questioned why she could not contact her friends living in the country if she wished to do so.