A popular YouTuber and travel vlogger from Haryana was arrested on Saturday on charges of sharing sensitive information with Pakistani intelligence operatives during Operation Sindoor.

Haryana police are yet to divulge the specific information that 32-year-old Jyoti Malhotra, who had travelled to Pakistan twice as a tourist last year, is suspected to have shared.

She has been booked under relevant sections of the Official Secrets Act.

Jyoti’s YouTube channel — “Travel with Jo” — has over 3,77,000 subscribers while her Instagram account has over 1,32,000 followers.

She is among six people, including a 25-year-old student and a 24-year-old security guard, from Punjab and Haryana who have been arrested on espionage charges in the past few days.

Sources in the security agencies said Jyoti had become a key figure in an ongoing probe into a Pakistan-linked espionage network operating across northern India.

“She was taken into custody after she was found sharing sensitive information with an official of the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi. Her actions violated the Official Secrets Act and posed a threat to national security,” said a Haryana police officer.

“She was in direct contact with handlers in Pakistan and tried to portray a positive image of that country through her content. In March and April, she had also uploaded videos and reels of her trip to Pakistan,” the officer said.

According to the police, Jyoti revealed during interrogation that she had gone to the Pakistan High Commission to get a visitor visa in 2023 and came in contact with commission official Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish. Both of them stayed in touch.

During Operation Sindoor, India declared Rahim persona non grata and asked him to leave the country within 24 hours for leaking sensitive information on the movements of the army. Police said Jyoti had got her visa in 2023 and travelled to Pakistan twice.

A probe has revealed that on Rahim’s insistence, she met Ali Ahwan in Pakistan, who arranged her travel and stay there. Later, Ali introduced her to Pakistani security and intelligence officials Shakir and Rana Shahbaz.

“She had saved Shakir’s mobile number under the name Jatt Randhawa to avoid suspicion,” a police officer said. “She remained in touch with all three men through social media platforms and exchanged multiple phone calls and messages. She subsequently started sharing sensitive information about vital installations in India to them,” the officer said.