The Return of Sonia Dhawan At Paytm: Why Is This A Big Deal? Is The Extortion Mystery Solved? [Updated]

Paytm has contacted us, and informed that Sonia Dhawan is not joining the company. This clears a lot of mystery, for sure.

Here is the official statement from Paytm: “No accused is joining back the company till the time the court matter is concluded.”

Earlier..

In an interesting twist of events, Sonia Dhawan, the Vice President – Corporate Communications / Public Relations at Paytm, returned to the company and joined back.

What makes it curious is that she was in jail for the last 5 months, as she was arrested on charges of ‘extortion’.

The case is still unresolved, and the mystery of Sonia Dhawan has deepened, as she is back at Paytm.

Why is this a big deal? And why Vijay Shekhar Sharma is silent?

Sonia Dhawan Returns At Paytm

As per a report by ET, jailed Paytm executive and Marketing Manager Sonia Dhawan has made a comeback at Paytm. For the last 5 months, she was in jail along with her husband Rupak Jain, on charges of extorting Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and threatening to reveal some sensitive data if not paid.

Initial reports suggested that Sonia Dhawan and her accomplices had demanded Rs 20 crore for not revealing the sensitive data of the company.

After this incident came into light, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm, lodged a complaint with Noida Police, and based on the complaint, Sonia Dhawan, her husband, and another employee from Paytm: Devender Kumar was arrested.

There was a 4th accomplice as well, who allegedly fled to Kolkata.

Sonia was granted bail earlier this month, and she rejoined Paytm earlier this week.

Sonia Dhawan & Vijay Shekhar Sharma: The Case Of Extortion?

Sonia Dhawan had joined the Paytm in 2010 as company secretary, and in the last 10 years, climbed the corporate ladder to become a VP.

She was a personal secretary to Sharma, and as per some reports, she had access to his mobile, laptop, gadgets and more. It seems she betrayed that trust, and along with her husband and another Paytm employee, stole ‘sensitive data’ from him, which she used to leverage against them.

Allegedly, Rs 2 lakh was paid to Sonia Dhawan as a first installment, and this money was transferred to Ajay Sharma, who is the brother of Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Her lawyer told at the time of arrest: “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,”

Sonia Dhwan’s Mystery Is Still Unsolved

There are several angles to this mysterious case, which still remains unresolved.

For instance, after Sonia Dhawan was arrested, Vijay Shekhar Sharma had described this incident as a conspiracy. He had said, “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.”

There were indeed several theories going around: Some say that Sonia had Paytm shares worth Rs 10 crore, and there was no need for her to extort money from her boss.

Another theory states that few days before this incident, Sonia Dhawan had asked for Sharma’s help in buying a flat for Rs 4 crore, which was rejected.

None the less, Sonia’s rejoining at Paytm has triggered another round of speculations and conspiracy theories around the case, whose answers we don’t have right now.

If you have any information regarding this case, do let us know by commenting right here!