Paytm case: Cops tracking fourth accused who allegedly used international number to make extortion calls

Paytm case: Fourth accused Rohit Chomal allegedly spoke to both CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma and his brother and senior vice-president Ajay Shekhar Sharma, and demanded a ransom of ₹20 crore.

Four days after three persons, including vice-president of Paytm, were arrested for allegedly trying to extort ₹20 crore from the e-wallet giant’s chief executive officer, police are still clueless about the fourth accused in the case.

Sonia Dhawan, vice-president and former secretary of Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar, her husband Roopak Jain, Devendra, a senior manager in administration of Paytm, and Rohit Chomal allegedly tried to extort money from the CEO. (HT photo)

Not much is known about Rohit Chomal, the fourth accused in the extortion case who allegedly spoke to both CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma and his brother and senior vice-president Ajay Shekhar Sharma, and demanded a ransom of ₹20 crore. Chomal had allegedly claimed that he had in possession of company’s confidential data, and he would leak them if his demands are not met, the police said.

According to the complaint filed by Ajay Shekhar, Chomal allegedly made the phone calls using an international number and tracked his location in Kolkata. “Our surveillance team is currently tracking Rohit Chomal through a few phone numbers, but not much is known yet. We will also be sending a team to Kolkata in the next few days to arrest him. Meanwhile, we have started the process of recording statements from the employees of PayTm for our further investigation,” said Manoj Pant, station house officer, Sector 20 station.

It all began on Monday when Ajay Shekhar approached Sector 20 police station in Noida with a complaint alleging that four persons -- Sonia Dhawan, vice-president and former secretary of Vijay Shekhar, her husband Roopak Jain, Devendra, a senior manager in administration of Paytm, and Rohit Chomal had tried to extort money from the CEO.

According to the complaint, Sharma alleged that he received a call on his phone number on September 20 evening from a person who identified himself as Rohit Chomal. Sharma alleged that Chomal threatened him saying that he has personal and confidential data and demanded Rs 20 crore to be transferred in an ICICI bank account. A similar call was also made to Vijay Shekhar Sharma too on the same date. The caller threatened to do irreparable damage to their business and personal lives.

According to Sharma, the series of extortion calls continued until October 15, when he transferred Rs 2 lakh amount to the caller’s bank account. He further claimed that in return, he disclosed the names of two Paytm employees who were involved in the conspiracy.