Jyoti Malhotra, the travel YouTuber who has been arrested for spying for Pakistan, attended an Iftar dinner at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi last year and posted a video in which she is seen gushing about the arrangements, repeatedly expressing an interest in visiting the country and asking almost everyone she meets to help her get a visa.
In the video, the 33-year-old, who runs the travel YouTube account ‘Travel With Jo’, is also seen meeting a Pakistan High Commission official, Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, who had reportedly been declared persona non grata and asked to leave India within 24 hours for committing espionage and leaking sensitive information regarding the movements of the Indian Army. Malhotra also meets Rahim’s wife and it is clear from her interactions with him that they have met several times before and know each other well.
The video, posted on March 30 last year, begins with Malhotra saying she had been invited for the Iftar party and then entering the High Commission, describing the decoration as “superb”.
She greets Rahim warmly, asks him how he is doing, and tells him how happy she is to see him. A man, whose face is not seen but appears to be Rahim, introduces her to officials and tells them she runs the ‘Travel With Jo’ YouTube channel.
Describing the atmosphere at the high commission, Malhotra tells her viewers in a mix of Hindi and English, “I am mesmerised. I have no words. I am excited, super duper excited. Bhaisahab, main to hil gayi (I am so impressed).”
House Invite
Rahim introduces Mallhotra to his wife and they exchange pleasantries, after which he tells the YouTuber about Pakistan Day, which is celebrated on March 23. “I am very happy after getting such a grand welcome and these arrangements,” Malhotra says, to which Rahim responds, “This is how Pakistanis are.”
Malhotra also extends an invitation to Rahim and his wife to visit her house in Haryana’s Hisar. “Come see the hospitality in our village. It’s very similar.”
The YouTuber then goes around asking several attendees whether they have visited Pakistan, saying “I want to go, too” when they answer in the affirmative. “Hopefully I will get a visa, we’ll go together,” she tells a fellow YouTuber.
Malhotra also meets some officials from China and asks them for a visa for the country as well. “Give me visa!” she says.
She runs into Rahim again and remarks that he appears very busy taking care of all the people attending the dinner.
Earlier Visits
Meeting another Pakistani official, Malhotra says he handles everything at the embassy. “The three or four times I have come, he has recorded the entry and asked for my phone and other belongings to be kept aside. He is a very nice man,” she says.
“Give me a visa this time,” she tells another Pakistani official who has joined the high commission in February.
She goes on to praise the spread, appreciating the food that has been served, before speaking to Rahim again before leaving and telling him how happy she was to have been invited.
Arrest
Malhotra was arrested from Hisar for sharing Indian military information with Pakistan. She got her wish to travel to the country and went there at least twice. Officials said she confessed to having met Pakistani security and intelligence officials during at lease one of the visits and staying in touch with them after that, sharing “anti-national” information.
On Saturday, she was sent to police custody for five days.
