Noida police files chargesheet in Paytm data theft case

The Noida police have filed a chargesheet against Sonia Dhawan, her husband Rupak Jain, Devendra Kumar and Rohit Chomal in the Paytm data theft case. The chargesheet, which was reportedly filed on December 6, has charged the four accused under multiple sections related to theft, extortion, and criminal conspiracy. The chargesheet has also been submitted to the court.

According to a media report, the Noida police has evidence and submissions from witnesses against the four accused. The police have also recovered the stolen data, and dubbed it as "criminal data-theft of a severe nature."

However, the police did not share more details of the data but said 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". The submissions made by Rohit Chomwal in the Allahabad High Court has also proved that all the accused were "working in complete coordination till they were caught.”

Sonia Dhawan, her husband, and Devendra have been in judicial custody since October 22 on charges of attempting to extort Rs 20 crore from Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma threatening to leak his personal data.

The fourth accused, Rohit had sought protection from arrest from the Allahabad High Court last month, and claimed he was rather a "whistle-blower in the case, and not involved in any wrongdoing". The High Court had ordered Rohit 'shall not be arrested till credible evidence is not collected' by the investigating officer.

The accused were arrested after an FIR was filed by Ajay Shekhar Sharma, senior vice president at Paytm, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma's brother.

In a statement earlier, Paytm had clarified that this is the case of personal data theft of Vijay Shekhar Sharma, and that the consumer data is protected with the "highest and most impenetrable levels of security.”