A 51-year-old Bangladeshi, believed to be a human trafficker, was kidnapped and held hostage for over a month by seven of his victims, police said after arresting all eight men.

The alleged kidnappers say they were swindled by the 51-year-old, who reportedly pledged to bring their relatives to Greece but then disappeared.

Police say the victims found the 51-year-old in Patras and brought him to Athens where they held him hostage in a series of flats. They allegedly called his wife and demanded 200,000 euros.

The woman alerted police who caught the suspects on their way to the Bangladeshi Consulate in Piraeus, where the 51-year-old had been due to finalize the sale of his property so he could pay them.

A prosecutor is to decide whether to extradite the 51-year-old to Italy, where he faces a string of criminal charges.