HP Students Kidnapping: School alumnus planned for 8-10 days; familiar with protocol, says police

NEW DELHI: An alumnus of Bishop Cotton School, Sumit Sood, who was arrested for allegedly kidnapping three class six students of the school, lured them by offering a lift and introducing himself as a former Cottonian. Superintendent of Police Shimla, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi, told the media that Sood had been planning the kidnapping for the past eight to 10 days and used his familiarity with school protocols to his advantage. He used a California-based VPN number to make threatening internet calls to the children's parents.

An engineering graduate, Sood had studied at BCS until Class 8. He gained the confidence of the boys by introducing himself as a former student, a Cottonian, and offered to drop them off at Auckland Tunnel. After crossing Dhalli in the suburbs of Shimla town, he threatened them by showing a revolver, he added. The accused was familiar with the school's environment and planned the kidnapping for financial gain. The boys were rescued from a house in Chaithla village, Kotkhai, on Sunday, a day after they went missing during a day out, the police said.

Identification of suspected vehicle through CCTV footage

The breakthrough in the case came when the vehicle (with a Delhi registration number) used in the crime, was identified in CCTV footage. The suspected vehicle was seen heading towards Narkanda, then returning to Chaila, and later moving towards Kotkhai, he said. The parents of the missing students received calls saying that their children were with a gang, but there was no explicit ransom demand. A local youth, Raunak from Kotkhai, played a key role in cracking the case. Raunak, who works in Chol, met two constables, Pawan and Hitesh, who showed him CCTV footage of the vehicle used in the crime.

"After seeing the footage, I was 95 percent sure the vehicle belonged to Sumit Sood. I called him, but he didn't answer. We then visited his house, checked the vehicle, and confirmed it was the same as in the footage," Raunak said. Sumit was subsequently arrested. Punjab's Education Minister, whose nephew was one of the missing children, was also in Kotkhai with the police. Raunak was later honored by Himachal Pradesh Education Minister Rohit Thakur, the local MLA from the Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly segment.

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Student strength and public concern

Raunak had mentioned that it was difficult to believe Sumit was involved in such a crime, given his good behavior, education, and background, and that he had no known involvement with drugs. Speaking to the media alongside school authorities on Monday, local Congress MLA and former BCS student Harish Janartha said Sumit was aware that the school caters to children from affluent families and also knew the school's outing schedules. "It seems the children were not specifically targeted, and the accused, whose financial condition is poor, picked them at random," Janartha said.

Janartha also stated that the kidnapping appeared planned, noting that weapons, ropes, and other items were recovered from the accused's house. "The accused threatened the children with a gun, and the threatening call to the parents was made from an international number (California)," he added. The strength of students at BCS is between 350 and 400, and several concerned calls were received following the incident. Janartha reassured the public, saying, "There is no cause for concern. Things are under control, and we will ensure such incidents do not occur in the future."

School’s first incident of its kind

School authorities informed that this was the first such incident in the institution's history. They are now in the process of drafting new protocols for student outings, including night outs, term leaves, and holiday departures. A decision has been made to ensure that even senior students will not be allowed to leave the town without adult supervision, they said. "Himachal Pradesh is considered one of the safest places, but this incident has made us realize the need to review and revise our student management protocols, especially for off-campus activities," they added.