Court to hear ex-Paytm Noida’s bail plea on December 4

NOIDA: The district court will on December 4 hear the bail application of former Paytm vice-president and communiations head Sonia Dhawan, the main accused in the blackmailing plot against the company’s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Sonia, her husband Rupak Jain and Devender, a former Paytm employee, were arrested on October 22. The district court had rejected the bail application of Sonia’s husband on November 14, saying the crime was of a “serious nature”.

Advocate Satish Kumar, who represents Sonia and her husband in court, told TOI that the Allahabad high court had issued a stay on November 12 against the arrest of Rohit Chomal, the fourth accused in the case, till credible evidence is provided by Noida police.

“Justice Bala Krishna Narayan and Justice Rajive Joshi had stayed the arrest of Rohit Chomal, who is absconding in the blackmailing case. However, he is the most wanted man in the case,” said Satish Kumar, adding, “I have a strong feeling that Sonia will get bail on December 4 due to lack of evidence.”

Chomal is accused of making the calls to Sharma and his brother Ajay, demanding Rs 20 crore in exchange for private data on Sharma that Sonia is accused of having stolen. Sonia also served as Sharma’s personal secretary. Paytm has denied theft of any user data.

SSP Ajay Pal Sharma said Noida police has sufficient evidence of Chomal’s involvement in the case. “The police have the call records of threat and extortion done by Rohit. I will discuss all these things with the legal team and then proceed,” Sharma said.

Chomal had apparently taken the names of Sonia, her husband and Devendra, stating they were the people behind the conspiracy.


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