NOIDA: Sonia Dhawan and the other accused in the Paytm extortion case had hatched the conspiracy to blackmail the company’s founder, Vijay Shekhar Sharma , over a series of meetings in a Delhi hotel, police have informed court.It was in a hotel room that Sonia, a former vice-president of Paytm, her husband Rupak Jain and a former Paytm employee Devender Kumar would instruct the fourth accused, Rohit Chomal, on how to make the extortion calls and what to tell Sharma. Rohit, whose arrest has been stayed by the Allahabad high court for lack of evidence, had even blurted out the names of Sonia and the others during one of his calls, the police told the court.Noida police on Saturday claimed to have provided some incriminating evidence against the accused in a 250-page chargesheet that it submitted in court. “We have charged the accused under IPC sections 381 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master), 384 (punishment for extortion), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant), 120 B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and Section 66 of the IT Act, 2008,” an officer said.The chargesheet was filed in less than two months. Manoj Pant, the SHO of Sector 20 police station and investigating officer in the case, said their probe had revealed that the accused would talk to each other over phone and discuss their plan for hours at a stretch.“They would meet at a hotel in Delhi to hatch the conspiracy. We have access to call details of the accused, which reveal that they would also discuss their plan over the phone. During one of the extortion calls, Rohit Chomal had even mentioned the names of Sonia, Rupak and Devender. We have submitted this recording in court. This will act as evidence against Rohit Chomal, whose arrest have been stayed by the court,” he said. “The police have made a strong case against them in court,” he added.The officer declined to divulge further details. “The matter is in court.”Satish Kumar, who is representing Sonia and her husband in court, said the chargesheet was just an extended version of the FIR. “I am not at all worried because I have prepared a very strong case. The court will hear Sonia’s bail plea on December 11. I strongly believe the court will accept the bail plea,” Kumar said.Sonia, her husband Rupak and Devender were arrested on October 22 for allegedly planning to extort Rs 20 crore from Paytm founder Sharma.

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