Indian Man Kiïdnãps Three Students For Rãnsøm And Blames Abduction On Nigerian Citizens

Sumit Sood, an Indian suspected of kidnapping three Class VI students from Bishop Cotton School (BCS) in Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh, allegedly attempted to pin the crime on Nigerian nationals.

The three students were given ‘Outing Passes’ by the school on Raksha Bhandan on August 9, 2025 when Sood, a BCS alumnus, kidnapped them.

According to The Indian Express, the 43-year-old suspect made calls to the victims' parents, pretending that he had been forced by some Nigerian citizens to demand ransom.

The suspect instructed that the ransom be paid in Bitcoin and warned the parents not to informed anyone other wise the ‘Nigerian gang’ would harm him and the abducted children.

“The students are still in shock. Sood told the parents over calls that a Nigerian gang was behind the kidnapping, and if they informed someone, the Nigerian citizens would kill their wards. Sood had pretended that he was threatened by the gang to make calls to the parents,” Shimla Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjeev Gandhi told the publication on Tuesday. 

Sood was arrested at his house at Kokunala village near Kotkhai in Shimla district, and three kidnapped children were recovered from his possession, police said, adding that a car with a fake registration number was impounded from Sood’s possession.

Police said they seized a licensed firearm, sharp-edged weapons, including a machete, from his house.

Police said they seized a licensed firearm, sharp-edged weapons, including a machete, from his house.

A case was registered at the New Shimla police station.

The examination of Sood’s cell phone suggests that he searched and scrolled more than three dozen websites, local news channels, and the BCS website to check whether the news of abduction had spread. 

Around 8 pm on Saturday, when he learnt about reports of the missing students that had surfaced, he planned to shift them from his Kokunala village to Chandigarh.

Shimla court on Wednesday, August 13, 2025 sent Sood to judicial custody despite police seeking his custody to further question him in connection with the case.

Sood, however, gave his accent to provide his voice samples during the hearing by Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) Jyoti Bhagchandani, who fixed the hearing on August 18.

Police had moved an application, seeking the court’s permission to obtain the voice samples of the suspect.

Sources said Sood would be taken to the State Forensic Science Laboratory to obtain his voice samples.

The public prosecutor argued in court that Sood’s voice samples were required to match the recorded ransom calls to the parents of two of the kidnapped students.

Three kidnapped students, who stay in a BCS hostel, are from Kullu, Karnal in Haryana and Mohali in Punjab. One of the students is a relative of Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, who had visited Shimla, along with the family members of the student. 

Later, the BCS management decided that the students would now go off campus under the supervision of adults or school staff.