When the Paytm’s data theft case got disclosed almost a month back, many had assumed that this case of a secretary blackmailing his boss is lot more murky than it appears to be. Now with new twist and turns adding into this high profile case, it looks like this is indeed the case. The fresh twist to this sensational case has been added by one of the main accused Rohit Chomwal, who now claims that he is actually the whistle-blower and hence is innocent.
Chomwal has made an astonishing claim in his 14 page petition to Allahabad high court that Paytm Boss Vijay Shekhar Sharma and his brother Ajay Sharma had expressed their “thankfulness and gratitude” to him over WhatsApp messages. He further claims that these messages of “thankfulness” were sent to him for helping them (Mr. Vijay & Ajay) to reach to the main accused, i.e. Sonia Dhawan & others.
According to reports, the petition has an annexure which, according to Chomwal, has records of WhatsApp communication with Sharma brothers. Listed below are some of the claims made by Chomwal in his 14 page petition.
- Chomwal has straight away denied the allegation (as has been accused by Uttar Pradesh police) that he made an extortion call to Sharma brothers for Rs 20 crore got and Rs 2,00,067 transferred into his bank account by them.
- The ICICI bank account that has been cited in the police FIR, in which Chomwal alleged to have received the extortion, belongs to a trust. Chomwal further claims in his petition he has no connection with this trust.
- Chomwal runs another NGO by the name ‘The Holy Cow Foundation’ that imparts free education to children belonging to the weaker section.
- Chomwal was approached by Devinder Kumar (another main accused) earlier this year with a lucrative proposal that he can arrange substantial donation for his NGO from Paytm. However, Kumar set the condition that he will have reimburse half of the money received through donation.
- However, after not receiving any donation, Chomwal was convinced to travel to Delhi for meeting Vijay Shekar Sharma. But he ended up meeting Roopak Jain (Sonia’s husband and other main accused).
- Chomwal claims that he was pressurized to become part of the conspiracy. However, he refused and returned back to Kolkata. After returning, he contacted Sharma brothers and informed them about the conspiracy.
Meanwhile, except for Chomwal, all other accused persons (Sonia Dhawan, Roopak Jain & Devinder Kumar) continue to languish in the prison. Chomwal’s arrest has been prevented by the court until credible evidence is found against him by the police.
The way Paytm’s data theft case is unfolding, it won’t be surprising that if this case ends up throwing few more twists and turn in coming days. As mentioned above, this high profile case is indeed unraveling like a suspense thriller.
