Before Jyoti Malhotra, A Diplomat’s Fall: How Madhuri Gupta’s Spy Scandal Rocked The Nation

For those familiar with India’s long war with cross-border espionage, Jyoti Malhotra’s case felt eerily familiar.

Former Diplomat Madhuri Gupta

New Delhi: It is a story we have heard before – but one we still underestimate. When Jyoti Malhotra, a chirpy YouTuber from Haryana running a travel channel called Travel With Jo, was arrested for allegedly leaking sensitive military information to Pakistan, it shocked all. But for those familiar with India’s long war with cross-border espionage, it felt eerily familiar.

Why? Because we have seen this script before, played out in a far more dangerous theatre, by Madhuri Gupta, an Indian diplomat who went rogue in Islamabad in 2010.

While the characters differ, the pattern remains the same: seduction, resentment, manipulation and betrayal.

From Sufi Poetry to State Secrets

Madhuri Gupta was not your average government officer. She was a polyglot, a scholar of Sufi mysticism and a seasoned diplomat. But none of that stopped her from becoming a pawn in Pakistan’s notorious honeytrap game.

Stationed at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, she was charmed by a young ISI aide named Jamshed – handsome, manipulative and trained to ensnare. What started as flirtation turned into full-blown treason.

She did not just fall for him, she fell hard. And while she believed she had found love, he was playing her all along, egged on by his handler Mubashar Rana.

Soon, Gupta was passing on internal reports, names of intelligence personnel and even tracking High Commission movements – all under the illusion that she was helping someone who loved her.

By the time Indian agencies realised the extent of the breach, it was too late. Gupta had already compromised key intelligence and endangered Indian assets in Pakistan.

Her arrest in 2010 exposed how easily even a seasoned insider could be turned against the country – not through ideology or money, but emotion.

The Digital ‘Spy’

Now fast-forward to 2025. The battleground has shifted, but the tactics have not.

Jyoti Malhotra was recently arrested for allegedly leaking classified Indian military information to Pakistan. Beneath the carefully edited videos and Instagram-ready smiles, investigators say lay a covert operative embedded in plain sight.

She and six others were booked under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly passing sensitive data to Pakistan’s intelligence services.

It is unclear whether she was lured by love, greed or ideological manipulation, but the parallels with the Madhuri Gupta case are impossible to ignore. A woman with access to crucial information. Recruited through personal vulnerability. Exploited for gain.

Just like Gupta, Malhotra reportedly did not start out with malicious intent. But as with most ISI honeytrap or spy ops, it only takes one crack in the armour, one emotional weakness or one professional slight for Pakistan’s handlers to sink their claws in.

Pakistan’s Playbook

Whether it was Gupta’s frustration with the bureaucracy at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) or Malhotra’s digital stardom and access, the Pakistani spy apparatus has always worked one way: spot the weak link and squeeze it.

In Gupta’s case, as per reports, she felt sidelined, underappreciated and embittered. Her ego was stroked. Her work was praised. And before long, she was writing reports – not for South Block, but for Islamabad’s ISI. In Malhotra’s case, a seemingly apolitical persona helped her operate under the radar until it did not.

Both betrayals are reminders of the new face of espionage – less Cold War trench coats, more DMs and fake admiration. The ISI does not recruit insiders anymore; it looks for influencers, lonely hearts, disgruntled employees and anyone with access and an emotional gap.

The Real Danger

The Gupta and Malhotra cases highlight a reality – espionage today is not about James Bond-style heists or dramatic secrets. It is about soft infiltration: trust, psychology and leverage.

What makes both women’s cases so dangerous is not just the information they allegedly passed but how deeply embedded they were in Indian systems. One within the diplomatic corps, the other quietly navigating military environments.

Lessons Not Yet Learned?

Gupta’s arrest should have been a national wake-up call. But with Malhotra’s espionage, it is clear the same blind spots still exist. From background checks to digital monitoring, India needs to drastically tighten how it secures its classified environments – not only against traditional enemies, but against new-age infiltrators who weaponise charm, convenience and influence.

These are not isolated cases; they are proof of a consistent and calculated assault by Pakistan’s intelligence network. From the corridors of embassies to the comment sections of YouTube, the war on India’s sovereignty is being fought every day.

Let us not be naive. ISI does not sleep. It watches, it waits, and it pounces. Whether it is with a rose, a rupee or a retweet.

And every time someone falls for it, India bleeds a little more from within.