A police constable accused of kidnapping a local cryptocurrency trader and demanding Bitcoin ransom worth $40 million has been arrested along with seven accomplices, authorities said Wednesday.

Dilip Khandare had learned that a fellow resident of Pune owned a lucrative Bitcoin wallet and hatched a plan to kidnap him.

He and his co-conspirators allegedly kidnapped 38-year-old Vinay Naik on January 14 and demanded he transfer his entire digital currency holdings, worth Rs 300 crore ($40 million), along with another Rs 8,00,000 in cash.

Naik was let go the next day when the kidnappers realised the police were on their tail.