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Kerala govt responds after RTI says ‘spy’ Jyoti Malhotra visited as part of tourism campaign
Kerala's tourism minister Mohammed Riyas said the state government had no role in the selection of Jyoti Malhotra, arrested on espionage charges.
Kerala tourism minister Mohammed Riyas on Tuesday clarified that the state government had no role in the selection of social media influencer and YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested in May on suspicion of spying for Pakistan.
“Jyoti Malhotra was invited by the designated agency well before any case against her surfaced, and the Kerala government had no role in selecting influencers,” said Mohammed Riyas told reporters.
Mohammed Riyas made the statement in response to allegations that Jyoti Malhotra, who has been arrested on espionage charges, was invited to promote tourism in the state.
Some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, had cited an RTI reply to claim that Jyoti Malhotra had visited Kerala on an invite of the state government.
"So Bharat Mata is blocked and Pak spies are given red carpet by the Left," Poonawalla had said.
On Monday, the Communist Party of India (CPI) strongly condemned the alegations.
"The Communist Party of India strongly condemns the BJP's attempt to drag the Kerala government into the Jyoti Malhotra espionage case to cover up its own grave failures on national security," CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar said in a statement.
Kumar said it was outrageous to suggest that a state government was responsible for a YouTuber's travel to Pakistan when passport issuance, visa clearance, and intelligence monitoring are all under the control of the Union government.
"Did the Kerala government approve her visits to Pakistan? Did it place her in contact with ISI handlers in Delhi? This is a desperate and politically motivated deflection," Kumar said.
He also alleged that the BJP had a long list of embarrassments involving its members linked to "espionage and terrorism."
National security is a central subject, and the BJP, which governs the Centre, cannot wash its hands of "repeated intelligence lapses and the growing list of individuals with links to espionage and terror from within its fold," the CPI leader said.
"The people of India deserve accountability, not scapegoating and political vendetta," he added.
Reports have quoted an RTI response saying Malhotra was among those invited by the Kerala government to a state-run influencer collaboration programme.
Who is Jyoti Malhotra?
- On May 16, the Hisar Police arrested Jyoti Malhotra, who ran a YouTube channel ‘Travel with JO’.
- Hailing from Hisar, the YouTuber was arrested at the New Aggarsain Extension and booked under provisions of the Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
- Malhotra is currently under judicial custody.
- After her arrest on May 16, Malhotra was remanded to five days of police custody by the court. Following the completion of the remand, the court extended the custody by four more days after the police sought to question her further. On May 26, the court remanded her to judicial custody for 14 days, which was extended later.
- The Hisar Police previously said no evidence had emerged to indicate Malhotra had access to any military or defence-related information, but claimed she was in contact with some people and was aware that they were Pakistani intelligence operatives.
- Police sources had previously said she was in touch with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a staffer at the Pakistani high commission, since November 2023.
- India expelled Danish on May 13 for allegedly indulging in espionage. Police had in May claimed that Pakistani intelligence operatives were developing Malhotra as an "asset".
