A Hisar court on Monday extended by 14 days the judicial custody of Jyoti Malhotra, a YouTuber and social media influencer arrested in May on suspicion of espionage under the Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Malhotra, who ran a travel-focused YouTube channel titled “Travel with JO”, was arrested on May 16 by the Hisar Police from the New Aggarsain Extension area of the city. The 33-year-old influencer appeared before the court through video conferencing, her lawyer Kumar Mukesh confirmed.
“Her judicial custody has been further extended by 14 days, and the court has fixed the next hearing for July 21,” Mukesh said.
Earlier, on June 9, another court had dismissed Malhotra’s regular bail plea, with police opposing the request citing an ongoing investigation.
Following her arrest, Malhotra was initially remanded to five days of police custody, which was later extended by four more days. She has been in judicial custody since May 26, with successive extensions as the probe continued.
According to police sources, Malhotra was in contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a Pakistani High Commission staffer who was expelled by India on May 13 for allegedly engaging in espionage activities. Authorities claimed that Malhotra had been in touch with Danish since November 2023.
While investigators admitted there was no evidence that Malhotra accessed any classified military or defence-related information, they alleged that she was aware of the identities of certain Pakistani intelligence operatives and was being developed as an “asset.”
The case has drawn national attention given Malhotra’s sizable online following and the sensitivity of the charges under India’s national security laws.
