Police have arrested a group of people who demanded ransom in cryptocurrency after kidnapping an inc..

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A kidnapped judge and his mother were found injured in a garage in the southeastern French province of Drom. [Yonhap News]

Police have arrested a group of people who demanded ransom in cryptocurrency after kidnapping an incumbent judge in France.

According to AFP on the 8th (local time), six people were arrested one after another by the police on the night of the 4th, kidnapping a 35-year-old female magistrate and her 67-year-old mother, imprisoned for more than 30 hours, and demanded ransom.

The kidnapped judge’s spouse is known to be a key executive of a cryptocurrency start-up.

According to French prosecutors, the kidnappers sent pictures of the victims to their spouses and demanded ransom in cryptocurrency, and threatened to damage the victims’ bodies if they did not pay quickly.

The victims were detained in a garage in the southeastern French province of Drom and were found injured and bound on the morning of the 6th.

At the time, the victims banged themselves into a garage door and asked for help, and a neighbor who heard the sound opened the door to help the two escape, authorities said.

As the victims were rescued, no actual ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

A total of six abductors were found. Some of them were arrested while trying to catch a bus to Spain, and others, including minors, were later arrested.

Authorities are continuing their investigation to secure additional suspects.

In France, crimes such as kidnapping for cryptocurrency are on the rise recently.

Earlier in January last year, David Balang, co-founder of the cryptocurrency company Leisure, was kidnapped with his wife, and the kidnappers sent photos of Balang’s fingers to Leisure and demanded a large ransom.

In May, the father of a cryptocurrency company operator was kidnapped by four masked gunmen and released 58 hours later.