Sumit Sood, a 45-year-old engineering graduate and former student of Bishop Cotton School (BCS), Shimla, turned to crime amid severe financial losses, according to a Hindustan Times report.
A third-generation "Cottonian," Sood, who studied at BCS until Class 8 before pursuing engineering at MIT, Meerut, kidnapped three 11-year-old Class 6 students from near the school. The police rescued the children on Sunday, August 10.
Details of the crime
Sood, reeling from business losses and failed investments in shares, meticulously planned the kidnapping. “An engineering graduate, Sood had suffered losses in businesses. He even lost money in shares. To tide over the financial difficulties, he had planned the kidnapping and single-handedly executed the same at gunpoint,” said Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Gandhi.
Using a revolver registered to his father and a knife, Sood lured the boys by posing as an "old boy" of BCS, promising to drop them at Auckland Tunnel. Instead, he brandished the weapon after crossing Dhalli and took them to his isolated home in Chaithala, Kokonala. The car used in the crime, with a tampered Delhi registration number, was seized by the police.
Execution of the plan
Sood planned the crime for 8 to 10 days, leveraging his familiarity with BCS protocols to abduct the students randomly.
He used a California-based VPN to make threatening calls to the parents, contacting one child’s mother in Karnal, another’s father in Kullu, and attempting to reach the third’s father in Mohali.
“He told parents the children were with a dangerous gang, but there was no explicit ransom demand at that stage,” Gandhi noted. The police identified the car via CCTV footage, which showed it in New Shimla around 12.10 pm on Saturday, leading to Sood’s arrest. Authorities recovered arms, 10-12 mobile phones, and a laptop from him.
School’s response and safety measures
The kidnapping, a first in BCS’s 170-year history, has prompted the school to overhaul its safety protocols. Founded in 1859 by Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton, BCS is one of Asia’s oldest boarding schools, with notable alumni like Ruskin Bond and Ratan Tata.
Principal Mathew P John announced plans for new security measures. “We have decided that senior students will not be allowed to go out without adult supervision. Himachal Pradesh is one of the safest states in the country, but this incident has made us realise we must completely review and revise our protocols. We will be getting help from the police to finalise this,” he said, confirming collaboration with the police to draft updated safety guidelines.