Shimla, Aug 11 – A swift, coordinated operation by Shimla Police saved the lives of three students of Bishop Cotton School (BCS) who were kidnapped on Saturday evening.
The incident began around 6:30 pm when school authorities alerted police that three students had gone missing during an outing.
SP Shimla Sanjeev Gandhi said Initial leads were sketchy – some said the boys were seen near Scandal Point, others near McDonald’s, or in a lift with an unknown man.
CCTV footage revealed they left a location at 12:12 pm but never reached their next scheduled stop at Company Chowk, he said talking to media.
Police teams, led by Additional SP Navdeep Singh, traced the boys’ movements through multiple CCTV cameras, narrowing in on a suspicious DL-registered vehicle spotted at Khalini Chowk.
The car was tracked after it briefly headed towards Narkanda, then turned back towards Chaila.
Community inputs proved crucial – locals reported seeing the same vehicle in Kotkhai area.
By late Sunday afternoon, the car was located with the help of locals at the house of tge Kidnapper.
The the driver-kidnapper, identified as 38-year-old Sumit Sood, who lives at Kokunallah Kotkhai in Shimla district, was taken into custody.
The boys were rescued unharmed from his house and handed back to parents and the school after medical checks.
According to police, the accused, an engineer by training and a former student of BCS till 8th Class, was under debt and had plotted the kidnapping to demand ransom from the children’s families.
The police recovered a revolver, ropes and other weapons from his house. He had given them food and had called their parents on a virtual number tracec to California saying they were hostages and the man was demanding ransom for their release.
The team converted to the site and secured the release of the boys safely and Sood was arrested.
Gandhi said, “This rescue was possible because of our team’s urgency and professionalism, the community’s timely help, and the consistent support of DGP Ashok Tiwari and Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.”
Chief Minister Sukhu lauded the police for their swift action, calling the rescue “a testament to the state’s commitment to ensuring the safety of its children.”
DGP Ashok Tiwari congratulated the investigating team, noting that their quick analysis of CCTV footage, effective use of technology, and coordinated fieldwork turned what could have been a prolonged crisis into a rapid success story.
Police are now probing whether the accused has links to other crimes.
