Paytm clarifies stolen information was founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s personal data

After three employees were arrested in an extortion case, Indian payments behemoth Paytm released an official statement on Tuesday, clarifying that the stolen data was, in fact, the personal data of Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

The statement from the company read,

“This is a case of personal data theft of Vijay Shekhar Sharma, where three arrests were made yesterday. Paytm would like to reiterate that all our consumer data is protected with the highest and most impenetrable levels of security.”

The company declined to comment on the arrests, saying that law enforcement authorities were investigating the matter. It added,

“...we would like to respect the police investigation, and not comment further until the results of such investigation are known.”

Following the arrest, the Noida police yesterday released a statement on Twitter. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ajay Pal Sharma, also told PTI that they had received a complaint from Vijay Shekhar Sharma that some employees had been trying to blackmail him by demanding Rs 20 crore to not leak the data they had allegedly stolen.

In an earlier statement, Paytm confirmed the arrests saying,

“The employee along with two other accomplices attempted to extort money from Vijay Shekhar Sharma on the pretext of leaking his personal data.”