In a shocking incident, a 43-year-old Indian man, Sumit Sood, was arrested for kidnapping three Class VI students from Bishop Cotton School (BCS) in Shimla, demanding ransom in Bitcoin while falsely claiming a Nigerian gang was behind the abduction, Shimla police reported on August 13, 2025.
Sood, a BCS alumnus and debt-ridden engineer, allegedly orchestrated the kidnapping to alleviate financial losses from a fire that destroyed his apple orchard and a Rs 15 lakh deficit in share trading.
On Saturday, August 9, Sood lured the students, from influential families in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, by posing as a fellow alumnus offering them a ride.
He then drove them to his remote three-storey house in Kokunala, 60 km from Shimla, where he held them captive.
Using a virtual number via the TextMe app to spoof a California-based phone number, Sood contacted the parents of two students, claiming a “Nigerian gang” had kidnapped their children and threatened harm if the ransom wasn’t paid in Bitcoin or if authorities were alerted.
Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Gandhi revealed that Sood meticulously planned the crime, stealing his father’s licensed pistol, using a car with a fake Delhi number plate, and avoiding CCTV by taking the Bemloi-New Shimla road.
He even urinated in a bottle while waiting four hours near the school to avoid detection.Police rescued the unharmed students on Sunday evening after tracking Sood’s Hyundai i20 to Kokunala, following a tip from a local resident.
Items seized included the pistol, a meat chopper, rope, and tapes.
During interrogation, Sood admitted to researching over three dozen websites and news channels to monitor whether the abduction had been reported.
He had initially targeted another student but abandoned the plan due to the student’s sturdy build.
On Tuesday, police recreated the crime scene with Sood, who identified key locations, including where he blindfolded the students and changed his car’s number plate. He faces charges and will be produced in court on Wednesday, August 14, 2025.
The school principal announced stricter outpass protocols, barring students from leaving campus without adult supervision, citing the incident as a wake-up call for safety measures.
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