Eight people, including a police constable, were arrested near Pune on Tuesday for allegedly kidnapping a man and trying to extort Bitcoin worth Rs. 300 crores from him.
The policeman arrested had undergone training for cybercrime detection, news agency PTI quoted a police official as saying. Apart from the payment in cryptocurrency, he and the other accused allegedly demanded Rs. 8 lakh from the man they kidnapped.
The arrests were made in Pimpri Chinhwad in northern Pune.
"He got information about a city resident having amassed sizable number of Bitcoin. He and his accomplices kidnapped the person last month. They also demanded Rs eight lakh from him besides payment in cryptocurrency," the official said.
When the accused realised that police were on their trail, they released the person. "A total of eight persons have been arrested in the case," the official said, adding that further probe in on.
On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2022 speech, announced that a30 per cent tax will be levied income from the sale or acquisition of virtual and digital assets such as cryptocurrency from April 1. Only Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-issued 'Digital Rupee' will be recognised as currency, she said.
The Budget for the next financial year also proposed a 1 per cent tax deduction at source (TDS) on payments towards virtual currencies beyond Rs 10,000 in a year and taxation of such gifts in the hands of the recipient.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
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