What started as travel vlogging during a religious trip has turned into a case of digital manipulation and suspected espionage. Jyoti Malhotra, once a seemingly innocuous YouTuber who first journeyed to Pakistan during the 324th Vaisakhi Festival in 2023, now finds herself under the scanner of Indian intelligence for allegedly aiding influence operations orchestrated across national lines.
Her second trip for the 325th Vaisakhi Festival in April 2024 only deepened the concerns. According to reports, not only did she return to Pakistan, but she also overstayed by over a month from April 17 to May 25. Investigators now allege that this extended stay marked her deeper involvement in a Pakistani-led influence campaign operating under the radar via diplomatic conduits and digital platforms.
Documents reviewed by a media outlet reveal that her original visit in 2023 was facilitated by Harkirat Singh, a key operator well known for organising Sikh pilgrimages to Pakistan through official corridors. Singh, a familiar name especially during Vaisakhi festivities, is now scrutinised for introducing Malhotra to figures in the Pakistani establishment.
When Malhotra failed to secure clearance for the 2023 Vaisakhi pilgrimage, she was reportedly introduced to a man known as Ehsan, also referred to as Danish. He would later be identified as Ehsan Dar, a Pakistani High Commission official working under diplomatic cover, whom Indian intelligence now suspects of acting as a mid-tier ISI coordinator.
Malhotra’s first encounter with Ehsan reportedly took place while preparing for that failed trip. He allegedly operated from Delhi under the cultural and consular wings of the Pakistani High Commission. Internal surveillance flagged his repeated contacts with digital influencers, journalists, and content creators. Intelligence sources stated that his typical approach involved offering visa help, interviews, or cultural events to cultivate rapport with potential ‘soft targets’—individuals whose digital reach made them useful assets for narrative control.
Officials noted that Ehsan Dar was expelled on May 13, having been declared persona non grata for what were described as “activities incompatible with his diplomatic status”—a phrase intelligence insiders interpret as code for espionage.
Malhotra’s subsequent transformation from an amateur travel vlogger to a narrative agent is now the subject of intense scrutiny. Her videos, initially framed as travel diaries, began showcasing Pakistan in glowing terms—extolling its infrastructure, hospitality, and cultural warmth—while subtly downplaying geopolitical tensions. Analysts believe these content shifts were deliberate, crafted as part of a psychological strategy aimed at reshaping public sentiment, particularly among India’s digital-native youth.
Intelligence officials disclosed that Malhotra was allegedly guided on content ideas by Ehsan and his associates. These topics reportedly nudged her toward soft criticism of Indian policies while glorifying Pakistan—a shift that did not go unnoticed. Experts in hybrid warfare have remarked that such digital content forms the bedrock of modern-day influence campaigns, where subtle narrative control can be more potent than conventional propaganda.
One particularly incendiary video is now central to the investigation. Posted shortly after the Pahalgam terror attack, Malhotra’s content assigned blame to Indian security agencies while ignoring the increasing evidence of cross-border terrorism. Officials asserted that this was not viewed as an isolated misjudgment, but as part of a broader, coordinated disinformation campaign intended to erode public faith in national institutions.
Her visa extension request, intelligence sources confirm, became the turning point. It was at this juncture that Harkirat Singh reportedly reconnected her with Ehsan, who by then had become a trusted link. He is believed to have offered strategic guidance in exchange for subtle ideological alignment in her public messaging.
Raised in Delhi by a single father, Malhotra led a modest life, working various small jobs until she lost employment during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then that she turned to vlogging, eventually growing a decent online following. During this period of vulnerability, Ehsan reportedly began offering her small incentives and support—a relationship which now appears, in hindsight, to have been part of a strategic grooming process.
Following her overstay in Pakistan, Malhotra embarked on a series of international trips—to China, Nepal, Bangladesh, the UAE, Thailand, Indonesia, and Bhutan. Intelligence Bureau sources revealed to India Today TV that each of these visits is now being re-examined in light of her digital messaging and links to Ehsan. Her November 2024 trip to Kashmir raised eyebrows, as did her final recorded journey to Pakistan in March 2025—barely two months before Ehsan’s expulsion.
Her digital devices, now in the custody of investigators, reportedly contain encrypted communications, coordination cues, and content blueprints consistent with Pakistani narratives. Intelligence operatives are said to be studying her case as a prototype of new-age influence operations.
Every year, thousands of Sikh pilgrims travel to sacred sites in Pakistan—Nankana Sahib, Kartarpur Sahib, Panja Sahib, and Lahore’s Gurdwara Dera Sahib—under a longstanding agreement between India’s Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Pakistan’s Evacuee Trust Property Board. It was within the framework of this religious and cultural exchange that Malhotra allegedly became entangled in a covert soft-power effort masquerading as spiritual travel.
Officials close to the probe have remarked that this is the new face of espionage—one that unfolds not in secret bunkers or dark alleys, but on YouTube thumbnails and Instagram reels. Malhotra’s saga, they suggested, stands as a cautionary tale for an era in which influence is measured in clicks, and loyalty is shaped not by ideology, but by algorithms.
In the eyes of national security experts, her case is no longer about one individual, but about a dangerous precedent—how the tools of entertainment and engagement can be twisted into instruments of manipulation, and how the battleground of trust has decisively shifted to the digital realm.
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