This viral photo of Akhilesh Yadav with Jyoti Malhotra who was allegedly arrested for spying for Pakistan is edited
Jyoti Malhotra, a travel vlogger and YouTuber from Haryana, was arrested by Hisar police on 17 May 2025 on charges of espionage for Pakistan. Reports allege that she shared sensitive information related to India with Pakistan’s intelligence agency using encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat (here, here, and here).
In this context, a photo of Jyoti Malhotra is going viral on social media (here, here, and here). In the photo, she is allegedly seen with former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. The post is being shared with claims that Jyoti Malhotra is associated with the Samajwadi Party (SP). Let’s verify the claim made in the post through this article.
Claim: A photo shows Jyoti Malhotra with former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, suggesting her association with the SP.
Fact: The viral photo is digitally altered. The original photo is from January 2017, during the release of the Samajwadi Party manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, in which Akhilesh Yadav is seen with his wife Dimple Yadav. Her face was swapped with Jyoti Malhotra’s. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A Google Lens search of the viral photo led us to multiple media reports (here, here, and here) from January 2017 featuring a similar photo of Akhilesh Yadav with his wife, Dimple Yadav, releasing the Samajwadi Party manifesto for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh polls.
Upon comparing the viral photo with the photo of the SP leader featured in the media reports, we found that the original photo had been edited. Dimple Yadav’s face was replaced with Jyoti Malhotra’s to falsely depict the alleged Pakistani spy, Jyoti Malhotra, alongside Akhilesh Yadav.
Multiple photos from this event were also found on the Getty Images website, confirming they correspond with the viral photo.
To help readers understand how face-swapping works, we used an AI-based face swap tool, which allows users to superimpose one person’s face onto another in a photograph. Using it, we replaced Dimple Yadav’s face in the original photograph with Jyoti Malhotra’s to demonstrate how the viral, edited photo was likely created. The result can be seen below.
To sum up, this viral photo of Akhilesh Yadav with Jyoti Malhotra, who was allegedly arrested for spying for Pakistan, is edited.