The initial investigation into the Paytm extortion case has revealed that company’s vice president Sonia Dhawan allegedly blackmailed firm’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma after her request for Rs 4 crore to buy a home was ignored.
According to a report in The Indian Express, SSP (Gautam Budh Nagar) Ajay Pal Sharma said: “Around two months ago, she asked her bosses for financial help to buy a flat. But they ignored it, which could have been a trigger.”
“Yes, I did copy data for them. They asked me. I do not know the nature of the data, but she (Sonia) was the one who roped me into the controversy,” Devendra Kumar, an employee at the company's administration department told The Indian Express while inside court.
The Noida Police on Monday arrested three Paytm employees-- Dhawan, person secretary to Paytm Founder and CEO; her husband Rupak Jain; and Devendra Kumar, an employee at the company's administration department for allegedly trying to blackmail the e-wallet giant's founder and extort Rs 20 crore.
According to police, one of the employees who has been arrested happened to be Sharma's secretary and is believed to be the mastermind behind the act. The accused also threatened Sharma to leak stolen personal data and confidential information if the amount was not paid on time.
"Sharma had lodged a complaint with the police that three employees, a woman and two of her aides, had stolen personal data from the company and blackmailed to pay Rs. 20 crore for not leaking the confidential information," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ajay Pal Sharma said.
A fourth accused Rohit Chomal, a Kolkata resident, who is believed to have made the extortion calls from Thailand, is on the run.
Earlier, on the complaint made by Paytm Vice President Ajay Shekhar Sharma, who is the brother of the founder, a case was registered under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information and Technology Act against the four.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), Dhawan had been the personal secretary to the CEO for about 10 years and had access to all the files containing the financial data.
On Tuesday, Paytm in its statement said, "All our consumer data is protected with the highest and most impenetrable levels of security."
"At this point, the law enforcement authorities are investigating this matter and we would like to respect the police investigation, and not comment further until the results of such investigation are known."
(With inputs from agencies)
