AI Image Of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra In BJP Gear Falsely Attributed To Aaj Tak

An AI-generated image showing Haryana-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra—accused of spying for Pakistan—wearing a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cap and scarf is being falsely shared as a news update by Hindi media outlet Aaj Tak.

BOOM ran the image through various AI detection tools, which showed very high likelihood of it being AI-generated. Furthermore, Aaj Tak's social media team confirmed to BOOM that no such graphic was posted by its social media handles.

On May 16, 2025, the Haryana Police arrested 33-year-old travel vlogger Jyoti Rani Malhotra for allegedly spying for Pakistani intelligence agencies during Operation Sindoor. According to the police, Malhotra was taken into custody after she was found sharing “sensitive information” with an official from the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi. She runs a YouTube channel called 'Travel with Jo', which has over 3.77 lakh subscribers, and an Instagram account with more than 1.32 lakh followers.

The viral news graphic is being shared on X with a Hindi caption, that translates to English as, “Jyoti, you betray me… BJP is with you..! #JyotiMalhotraArrested.” The top right corner of the image features the logo of Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, along with a Hindi text caption that translates to, “Haryana YouTuber arrested on charges of treason.”

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FACT-CHECK

BOOM found that the photo in the viral graphic showing Jyoti Malhotra wearing a BJP cap and scarf is AI-generated, and was not posted by Aaj Tak.

We looked through the updates shared by Aaj Tak's social media handles on Malhotra's arrest, but were unable to find any post that matched the viral image.

We then reached out to Aaj Tak's social media team who also confirmed to us that the viral graphic is fake.

Taking cue from this, we ran the viral photo through Hive's AI detection tool which showed a 100 per cent likelihood of the photo being AI-generated.

We also ran the viral image through AI image detection tool 'wasitai', which showed an equally high likelihood of the image being created by AI.