Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma was arrested by the Delhi Police for allegedly ramming into a senior police official's car in February and later was released on bail. A senior official confirmed the incident on Sunday, March 13. Delhi Police Spokesperson Suman Nalwa told IANS that the incident took place on February 22 in south Delhi's Malviya Nagar area.
"The accused rammed the car of South Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Benita Mary Jaiker. However, the DCP was not present inside the car at the time of the incident," the official said.
According to the official, the accident happened outside Mother International School, Sri Aurobindo Marg on February 22 when the DCP's driver had taken out the car for refuelling. No one was injured in the accident. The DCP's driver Constable Dipak Kumar noted down the number of the Land Rover that hit his car and informed DCP Jaiker about the incident, who asked him to file a complaint, the official said.
The accused driver of the Land Rover had fled the spot after the accident. In the FIR, Constable Kumar alleged that he had gone to re-fuel his car and around 8 am on that day when he reached outside the Mother International School's Gate No 3, there was a heavy traffic jam as parents had come to drop their children to the school. Seeing the traffic jam, Constable Kumar slowed down and it was at that time when the speeding Land Rover hit his vehicle from behind.
Accordingly, the police registered an FIR under section 279 (Rash driving or riding on a public way) of the Indian Penal Code at the Malviya Nagar Police station. “On investigation, the offending vehicle was identified and its driver Vijay Shekhar Sharma was arrested after identification on February 22 and released on bail on the same day," PRO Nalwa said.
Both the vehicles (DCP Jaiker's car and offending vehicle) were impounded and mechanically inspected. Investigation in the case is still in progress, the official added.
A Paytm spokesperson said the reports claiming the nature of the arrest are "exaggerated". In a statement, the Paytm spokesperson said, "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".
With PTI inputs