‘Not The Original Targets’: Inside The Kidnap of Minister’s Nephew Near Prestigious Shimla School
The kidnapped boys belonged to prominent families — one from Karnal, another the nephew of Punjab Minister Harjot Bains, and the third the great-grandson of a former MLA from Kullu.
In a swift and dramatic operation, Shimla Police solved the kidnapping of three Bishop Cotton School students within hours, safely rescuing them from a house in Kotkhai, approximately 80 km from Shimla city. The accused, identified as 30-year-old Sumit Sood, was arrested and produced before court, which remanded him to police custody until August 13.
According to police investigations, the incident occurred on Sunday when three boys, all studying in Class 6 at the 160-year-old boarding school, left the campus for an outing around 12:15 pm. CCTV footage from the school gate showed them heading towards Khalini Chowk, but they disappeared near the Vigilance office. The school reportedly failed to alert the police for nearly six hours. The alarm was raised only after one boy’s family in Karnal, Haryana, received a ransom call from an overseas number later traced to a VPN masking a California-based caller ID.
The victims belonged to influential families: one from Karnal, one the nephew of Punjab Education Minister Harjot Bains from Mohali, and the third the great-grandson of a former MLA from Banjar in Kullu. Police launched a large-scale search operation involving over 150 personnel and scrutinised footage from around 300 CCTV cameras.
Investigations revealed that Sood, a former Bishop Cotton student himself, approached the boys near Khalini, offering to drop them at Lakkar Bazaar. Instead, he diverted the route towards Dhalli, brandished a pistol, and forced the boys to tape their mouths. He initially headed towards Narkanda but turned back before reaching it and took them to his fourth-floor residence in Kokunala, Kotkhai, where he kept them captive.
Shimla SP Sanjeev Gandhi said the police were informed by the school management only around 6 pm. ASP Navdeep Singh, a Special Investigation Team, and the cyber cell immediately began the search. “There were conflicting leads initially, but CCTV footage helped us narrow down the location. A vehicle with a fake Delhi number plate became the key clue,” Gandhi said. A local youth, Ronik from Kotkhai, also informed police about the suspicious vehicle, aiding the rescue.
Police sources said Sood had been planning the kidnapping for about ten days to recover losses of Rs 40–50 lakh incurred in the stock market. However, the three boys were not his original targets.
The incident triggered political reactions, with Punjab Education Minister Harjot Bains rushing to Shimla to meet Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur criticised the state government, saying, “On Rakshabandhan day, three children are kidnapped from a reputed school in the city and taken 50 km through major junctions without any intervention. This highlights the poor state of law and order.”
The school authorities and Shimla Urban MLA Harish Janartha later held a joint press briefing, assuring stricter safety measures. The principal announced that students will no longer be allowed off-campus without adult supervision. Janartha, an alumnus himself, acknowledged that current rules permit students above Class 6 to go out in groups without staff, a policy now under review.
