Haryana travel vlogger Jyoti Malhotra, known for her channel ‘Travel with JO’, has been arrested for allegedly collaborating with Pakistani intelligence operatives, police confirmed on Sunday. Authorities believe she was being cultivated as a potential espionage asset.

According to Hisar Superintendent of Police Shashank Kumar Sawan, the influencer had taken multiple trips to Pakistan on what appear to be sponsored visits. One of those trips took place shortly before the recent Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives. While investigators say she had no direct access to defence secrets, her frequent communication with Pakistani operatives during the current Indo-Pak tensions has raised red flags.

“Warfare today extends beyond the battlefield,” SP Sawan said. “There is a concerted effort to manipulate narratives through influencers on social media, and this case seems to point in that direction.”

He added that Malhotra's financial records are under scrutiny as her travel patterns — which also include a visit to China — appear inconsistent with her declared sources of income. “Her expenses don’t align with what she’s officially earning,” he said, adding that investigators are also probing potential links to other individuals.

Malhotra was reportedly in regular contact with several Pakistani intelligence officers, including a man identified as Ehsan-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish, who is employed at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. She even attended an Iftar gathering hosted at the Commission last year, where she was seen with Danish.

Her arrest came following a tip-off from central intelligence agencies. She is currently in five-day police custody while officials comb through her electronic communications and recent travel records, particularly those around the time of heightened Indo-Pakistani tensions and the Pahalgam incident.

A case has been registered under the Official Secrets Act along with relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Police have indicated that more arrests could follow as the investigation unfolds.