Navankur Chaudhary, a doctor-turned-YouTuber popularly known as Yatri Doctor, has denied any involvement in espionage following the arrest of his acquaintance Jyoti Malhotra on charges of spying for Pakistan.
In a video posted to Instagram, Mr Chaudhary called the allegations "baseless" and the narrative being spread against him "fake."
Who Is Yatri Doctor Navankur Chaudhary?
Navankur Chaudhary is a registered MBBS doctor, having graduated from Madras Medical College in 2015. Originally from Rohtak, Haryana, he was born on March 2, 1996, and completed his schooling in Rohtak before pursuing medicine. He currently lives in Delhi, as per his LinkedIn profile.
In 2017, Mr Chaudhary left his medical profession to pursue his passion for travel and launched his YouTube channel Yatri Doctor. Today, the channel has nearly 2 million subscribers. With over 6.5 lakh followers on Instagram and millions of views on his videos, he is a popular figure among Indian travel enthusiasts.
To date, he has visited 144 countries and continues to share his journeys across various social media platforms.
Why Is Yatri Doctor In the News?
The backlash began after social media users circulated older clips of him attending an event at the Pakistan High Commission, criticising a BSF jawan, and allegedly displaying an incorrect map of India.
On Sunday, Mr Chaudhary clarified that he has only visited Pakistan once.
"I have visited Pakistan only once," he said, explaining it was a part of his goal to travel to all 197 countries in the world.
So far, he has travelled to 144 countries.
Addressing his connection with Jyoti Malhotra, the woman arrested for allegedly passing sensitive military information to Pakistani handlers, Mr Chaudhary said, "She approached me as a fan. I didn't know her personally before that day, and we only briefly spoke about YouTube."
Jyoti Malhotra, who also hails from Haryana and runs a YouTube channel named Travel with JO, was arrested last week. Authorities say she had been in touch with an official from the Pakistan High Commission and visited Pakistan at least twice.
Mr Chaudhary firmly stated that he had always been proud of his Indian roots. "Several members of my family have served in the armed forces," he said, refuting any doubts about his patriotism.
He also clarified that he was not under any investigation by Indian authorities. "I am ready to fully cooperate with any agency if needed," he said, urging his followers not to jump to conclusions based on "fake narratives."
