Noida: Further investigation in the case where three Paytm employees including Secretary of CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma who were arrested for stealing data and extorting the Paytm CEO had led to the recovery of a hard disk of more than 200 GB containing sensitive data which is being scanned by police. Police claimed that they have launched the manhunt to nab the fourth accused. Police also suspect that the accused may be wanting to invest the extortion money in some kind of business.
Police claimed that they are investigating the case and it has been learnt that the accused were stealing the data for the last two years. The investigating agency is probing whether any consumers data was inside the hard disk. "At this stage, we can't say anything. It is the matter of investigation," said a senior police officer. The fourth accused identified as Rohit Chomal used to make call to Sharma, the CEO, for the extortion and demanded around Rs 10 crore for the stolen data.
Chomal rang Vijay Shekhar Sharma several times - and eventually began asking for Rs 20 crore. After several interactions, Chomal agreed for Rs 2 lakh which should be transferred immediately.
An account number was sent to him which is suspected to be fake. "The victim transferred Rs 67 to check whether the account was of the accused later after getting confirmation money was sent. The amount is being probed," said the investigator. This money trail led to the arrest of the three persons. On Monday, Noida Police claimed that they arrested three persons, including Sonia Dhawan, the personal secretary of the owner of the e-wallet giant.
The mastermind in the case is the woman who had been working with the company for nearly 10 years and had access to his files. She and her husband, Rupak Jain came up with the plan to steal some private, financial information. They roped in two more associates to execute the plan.