In a Bitcoin extortion case in India in 2018, 14 people were sentenced to life imprisonment, including 11 police officers.

According to Techub News, reported by The Block, in a 2018 cryptocurrency kidnapping and extortion case in India, the victim Shailesh Bhatt was kidnapped and forced to sell Bitcoin as ransom. Currently, Indian authorities have sentenced 14 criminals to life imprisonment, including 11 police officers (among them the former police chief of the crime scene and a former member of the Indian legislative assembly). The special judge sentenced these individuals for kidnapping, extortion, and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code. In the case, the victim Shailesh Bhatt was lured to a gas station and then kidnapped, after which he was forced to pay 34 Bitcoins (worth approximately $150,000) as ransom. During the trial, a total of 172 witnesses were summoned, but 92 of them changed their testimony. It is worth mentioning that the victim Bhatt himself is currently also being prosecuted by law enforcement for allegedly kidnapping a BitConnect promoter, and the case is still under trial.