Was Sonia Dhawan just a pawn in someone else's sinister plan? Paytm plot thickens

NEW DELHI: Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the alleged extortion case involving company executive Sonia Dhawan that has rocked the company may have been part of a broader conspiracy and that it had left him “shocked and surprised.”

“I believe Sonia is a conduit of someone else’s bigger plan,” Sharma told ET. “I don’t know how many more people were involved in this sad conspiracy. I am shocked and surprised at things that happened and some claims or theories being pitched. I am sure with support of police and everyone involved we will uncover the details soon.”

This follows Dhawan’s family and her lawyer saying that she’s being framed due to “rivalry inside the company” and jealousy because of her promotion to vice president about a month ago. Dhawan has been arrested for being part of an alleged attempt to extort money from the unicorn’s founder.

“The plot began after Dhawan was promoted as vice president of Paytm a month ago,” said Prashant Tripathi, advocate for Dhawan, who was also Sharma’s secretary. “There could be people around in the company or some (Sharma) family members who would not be happy about it.” Dhawan’s brother-in-law Puneet questioned the role of Sharma’s brother Ajay Shekhar Sharma. The latter is the complainant in the first information report (FIR) lodged with the police.

People close to Paytm rubbished the accusation, saying Dhawan’s role in the company was being overstated by her family. They said there are nearly half-a-dozen vice presidents in the company and about 20 people in senior management.“Dhawan was made vice president, communications, and there was no reason for Ajay Shekhar Sharma or anyone in Paytm to be insecure about that. It is wrong to say Dhawan was No. 2 in the company next to Vijay Shekhar Sharma,” said one of these persons.

DHAWAN TOO GOT EXTORTION CALL'
Tripathi, who met Dhawan in jail, alleged a conspiracy. “She was definitely framed. She is saying she is innocent— she is saying she is herself not able to gather from where she has been framed,” Tripathi said. “She is saying this is something way beyond her. Person who is earning in lakhs and crores in equity would not get into this to buy a house – she could simply sell her equity to buy one.”

The police has contended that Dhawan resorted to extortion as she wanted to buy a new house. Paytm sources said the Dhawan family’s statements over the last three days were inconsistent—attributing the frameup to a share buyback deal to uncovering something unsavoury about the company.

“The family is frustrated with the situation,” the source said. Her lawyer meanwhile said he was still to get instructions to seek Dhawan’s bail. Police officials are basing their case on Dhawan having sole access to the personal information of Sharma that is said to have been compromised.

They are also banking on the statement of Paytm employee Devendra Kumar who’s been arrested and is said to have confessed that Dhawan passed on confidential information to be used for extortion. “I think this is totally false. I asked Kumar in court,” Tripathi said. “He told me he has never said that. He seems to be in a bad state. I don’t know what he told the police.”

However, the Uttar Pradesh police doesn’t seem to have acted on Dhawan’s complaint to them on September 22, alleging that she had got an extortion call for Rs 5 crore threatening harm to her family if she didn’t pay up. “She is herself a victim of a similar phone call. Police did not take any action on her complaint and just lodged a non-cognisable report,” her lawyer said. A Noida police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told ET that Dhawan’s complaint “had nothing to do with the present matter.”