(L-R) Puri girl on her insta, travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Police have begun investigating a potential connection between a Puri-based YouTuber and travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested on Saturday by Civil Lines police in Hisar, Haryana, for alleged Pakistani espionage.Police found that the Puri YouTuber travelled to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan recently.“During her journey to Puri Jagannath temple in September last year, Malhotra contacted a Puri girl, who is also a YouTuber. We are now scrutinising Malhotra’s visit objectives and any possible suspicious activities. As of now, we have not found anything suspicious,” Puri SP Vinit Agrawal said.Police officials are questioning the Puri YouTuber, whose identity has not been disclosed due to security concerns, regarding her relationship with Malhotra. She informed officials that their connection is purely friendly, stemming from their shared interest in YouTube and travel blogging.“We have found that the Puri YouTuber travelled to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan recently,” another police officer said. The Kartarpur Corridor is a visa-free border crossing and religious corridor connecting the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, to the Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. It allows Indian pilgrims and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders to visit the holy Sikh shrine in Kartarpur, located 4.7 km from the India-Pakistan border, without a visa.The Puri-based YouTuber’s father maintains that his daughter and Malhotra are merely friends. “My daughter has no involvement in anti-national activities and was unaware of Malhotra’s alleged espionage. We are cooperating with the police in their investigation,” he said.“My daughter loves travelling and visited Kartarpur with another friend (not Jyoti Malhotra) three months ago for pilgrimage. She got official permission to visit that place,” he said.Given that Malhotra allegedly maintained consistent communication with Pakistani intelligence operatives and shared sensitive information via WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat, Odisha Police are conducting a thorough investigation into her possible connections in Odisha. “We are working to identify all locations Malhotra visited in Odisha and any additional contacts she may have made besides Priyanka in Puri,” a senior police officer said.