Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Paytm, was arrested by the Delhi Police on February 22 and later granted bail after reportedly ramming his vehicle into the car of the South Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police on Aurobindo Marg.
A Paytm spokesperson responded to the incident, saying, “A complaint was filed in connection with an alleged minor motor vehicle incident. There was no harm caused to any person or property in the said incident. Media reports claiming the nature of the arrest are exaggerated, as even the complaint against the vehicle was for a minor offense under a bailable provision of law and requisite legal formalities were completed on the same day.”
Vijay Shekhar Sharma allegedly hit DCP Benita Marie Jaiker’s vehicle outside Mother’s International School in Delhi while speeding in his Jaguar Land Rover. Deepak, the DCP’s driver, was on his way to the filling station. Sharma allegedly fled the scene after hitting the car. Deepak, on the other hand, took note of the car’s license plate and reported the accident to the DCP. As a result, a case was lodged at Malviya Nagar police station under Section 279 (rash or negligent driving) of the Indian Penal Code.
According to the copy of the FIR, Kumar alleges that the vehicle in question rammed into Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Benita Mary Jaiker’s vehicle. The vehicle was identified as a Jaguar Land Rover, but the driver’s name has not been disclosed. According to an Indian Express report, the car was registered to a Gurugram-based company but ‘given’ to Sharma. Soon after, he was released on bail since the crime was filled by a bailable clause of the Indian Penal Code.
The alleged incident happens at a time when Paytm is already plagued by a slew of challenges. Paytm Payments Bank was restricted from enrolling new customers last week awaiting the completion of an RBI audit of the company. Aside from that, Paytm has been severely impacted by the stock market decline over the last three months, and is currently just trading below its IPO price, after the stock price has fallen by more than 60 percent since its IPO.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the founder of the popular digital payment platform Paytm. The company was founded in 2010 and started as a website for mobile phone recharges. Paytm experienced rapid development once Uber integrated it as a quick payment option. According to Forbes, Sharma has a net worth of $2.4 billion as a result of the company’s success.
