Pahalgam Terror Attack: A travel vlogger and YouTuber, Jyoti Malhota, now in police custody for allegedly spying for Pakistan, visited Pahalgam in January while on a five-day tour to Kashmir. A look at her Instagram handle shows that she also visited Pakistan and a party at the Pakistani High Commission in India. Notably, terrorists killed 26 tourists in Pahalgam on April 22, almost three months after her visit. Now, the police are investigating whether she carried out a recce and passed information to her Pakistani handlers.
SP Hisar Shashank Kumar Sawan said that an investigation is on to establish any linkage between the terrorist attack and her visit. “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,” says Sawan.
He also said that Pakistani agents were developing Jyoti Malhotra as an asset. The SP said that Malhotra was in touch with other YouTube influencers, and they were also in touch with the Pakistani operators. “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. 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…,” said the SP.
Earlier, Jyoti Malhotra was sent to five days of police remand by a local court, officials said. According to police, “suspicious things” were found after the police recovered her laptop and mobile. Additionally, the Deputy Superintendent of Hisar, Kamaleet said that the vlogger was in “continuous contact” with a Pakistani citizen.