Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma's secretary, 2 more held for Rs 20 crore blackmail in Noida
NOIDA: A long-time personal secretary to Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma was among three people arrested in Noida on Monday for allegedly trying to extort Rs 20 crore from him. The trio claimed to be in possession of data that included personal information on Sharma that the former secretary, Sonia Dhawan, is suspected to have stolen as she had access to his laptop, phone and office desktop.
Another Paytm staffer- Devender Kumar of the administration department- was also involved in the alleged extortion plot. Sonia and Devender were at their desks in the company's Noida office when a police team took them into custody. The third accused is Sonia's husband Rupak Jain, a property dealer. Police are looking for a fourth suspect, an associate of Jain's who is believed to be in Kolkata. "We are in touch with Kolkata police for help," Noida police chief Ajay Pal Sharma said.
Police said Sonia, who is in her early 30s, had been working with Sharma for the last 10 years - basically the entire period from the time Paytm was founded (in 2010) and its phenomenal growth after demonetisation in 2016. Devender too has been with Paytm for seven years, almost since its inception.
The arrests were made based after a complaint by Sharma, who said his brother got the first extortion call on September 20 by a person who identified himself as Rohit Chopal (Chopal is the fourth suspect, though this may not be his real name). The Paytm founder's brother Ajay Sharma is a senior vice-president in the company. The caller allegedly asked Sharma to pay up for the data he had acquired.
Speaking to TOI, Ajay Sharma said, "I received the first call on September 20, around 4pm, when the man demanded Rs 10 crore for the information. When I refused to pay, he called Vijay." Chopal repeated the same demand of Rs 10 crore to the founder before ratcheting it up to Rs 20 crore over the next few calls he made.