Paytm Extortion Case: Chargesheet Filed Against Dhawan, Husband, Two Others

In the Paytm extortion case, the Noida police have filed a chargesheet against prime accused Sonia Dhawan, her husband Roopak Jain, along with two others.

The chargesheet filed on December 6 shows that the accused — Dhawan, Jain, Devendra Kumar and Rohit Chomal — have been charged under multiple sections related to theft, extortion, and criminal conspiracy, among others.

Manoj Kumar Pant, station house officer, Sector 20, Noida, reportedly said that the chargesheet has been submitted to the court.

“Noida police are in possession of documentary evidence and submissions from witnesses that corroborated the complaint registered by the complainant, after which the police decided to go ahead with the chargesheet,” Pant said.

“Plus, the submissions made by Chomal in the (Allahabad High) court, details of his conversations with Sonia (Dhawan) and Rupak (Jain), has also proved that all four of them were working in complete coordination till they were caught,” he added.

The police have also recovered the data that Devendra Kumar obtained from Dhawan, allegedly with the knowledge of her husband, confirming there was “criminal data-theft of a severe nature.”

“It contained a lot of confidential data that could have affected the company and the clients. But since it is now a judicial matter, we cannot disclose the exact nature of the data,” Pant said.

Satish Kumar, the legal representative of both, Dhawan and Jain, however, reportedly said that while he had been informed of the chargesheet, he was yet to receive a copy of the same. Dhawan’s bail application, originally scheduled to be heard on December 4, will now be heard on December 11.

“The matter was adjourned, as some of the documents regarding the case had not arrived. The judge made no observations either. We are hopeful in the next hearing, there will be some relief for us,” he said.

Paytm vice president, communications, Sonia Dhawan, her husband Roopak Jain, along with another Paytm employee, Devendra Kumar, were arrested on October 22 for their alleged involvement in an extortion attempt targeted at Paytm chief Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

The trio was later sent on police remand for 14 days by the chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Gautam Buddha Nagar, (Noida).

[The development was reported by ET.]