Alumnus planned school students kidnapping for 8-10 days, say cops

The breakthrough in the case came when the vehicle (with a Delhi registration number) used in the crime, was identified in CCTV footage.

The parents of the missing students received calls that their children were with a gang, but there was no explicit ransom demand, said the SP.

A local youth, Raunak from Kotkhai, played a key role in cracking the case. Raunak, who works in Chol and is in the transport business, met two constables, Pawan and Hitesh, who showed him CCTV footage of the vehicle used in the crime. “After seeing the footage, I was sure the vehicle belonged to Sood. I called him, but he didn’t answer. We visited his house, checked the vehicle, and confirmed it was the same as in the footage,” Raunak said.

He added that the car matched the CCTV footage, down to its broken bumper, damaged fog light, and distinctive reflector side mirrors. “Although the number plate was changed, these details confirmed it was the same car. Having been in the transport business for 15 years, I can easily identify vehicles by its features,” Raunak said, adding that it was difficult to believe that Sood was involved in such a crime, given his good behavior, education, and background, and that he had no known involvement with drugs. Sumit was subsequently arrested.

The rescued students were from Mohali in Punjab, Hisar in Haryana and Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, whose relative was one of the missing children, was also in Kotkhai with the police.

Raunak was later honoured by Himachal Pradesh Education Minister Rohit Thakur with a Himachali cap and a shawl.

Kotkhai resident Sood was then arrested for allegedly kidnapping three minor students with the intention of demanding ransom. Police also recovered firearm, sharp-edged weapons, and a fake number plate from him. Sood reportedly told police that the recovered firearm is a licenced weapon registered in his father’s name.

Sood, an engineering graduate who studied at BCS till Class 8, was on Monday was produced before the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) Jyoti Bhagchandani and was remanded in two days of police custody.

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