NEW DELHI, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Star Health,

India's biggest health insurer, on Saturday said it had received

a ransom demand of $68,000 from a cyberhacker in connection with

a leak of customer data and medical records.

Star, which has a roughly $4 billion market cap, is battling

a reputational and business crisis since Reuters reported on

Sept. 20 that a hacker had used Telegram chatbots and a website

to leak customers' sensitive data, including tax details and

medical claim papers.

The company, whose shares have declined 11%, has launched

internal investigations and has taken legal action against

Telegram and the hacker, whose website continues to share

samples of Star customers' data.

Star, which has previously said it is a "victim of a

targeted malicious cyberattack", on Saturday revealed for the

first time that in August "the threat actor demanded a ransom of

$68,000 in an email" addressed to the company's managing

director and its chief executive.

The statement came after Indian stocks exchanges sought

clarifications from Star on a Friday over a Reuters report that

the company was investigating allegations that its chief

security officer was involved in the data leak.

Star reiterated on Saturday it has found no wrongdoing by

the official, Amarjeet Khanuja, though the internal

investigation is ongoing.

Telegram has declined to share the account details or

permanently ban accounts linked to the hacker - an individual

dubbed xenZen - "despite multiple notices issued in this

regard," Star said on Saturday.

Star said it has "sought the assistance" of Indian cyber

security authorities to "help us identify" the hacker.

Telegram did not respond to a request for comment.

The Dubai-based messenger app has previously said it removed

the chatbots when Reuters flagged them to the platform.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil)