Three Missing BCS Students Rescued from Kotkhai; Minister Praises Police, One Detained, Questions Mount for School, Has kidnapping has some US Connection?
Shimla, August 10 – Shimla Police have rescued three 11-year-old students of Bishop Cotton School — Angad (Kullu), Retendra (Mohali), and Vidansh (Karnal) — less than 24 hours after they went missing during a weekend outing on August 9.
The boys were traced to Chaithla village in Kotkhai in an operation led by Additional SP Navdeep Singh.
A tip about a suspicious vehicle proved decisive, leading police to detain local resident Sumit Sood. Teams from New Shimla Police Station, city officers, the CCTV surveillance unit, and the District Crime Record Bureau (DCRB) worked in close coordination, scanning hours of footage, tracking phone activity, and navigating mountain terrain. Police said the rescue was achieved after six hours of continuous fieldwork.
A case of kidnapping has been registered under FIR No. 20/25 at New Shimla Police Station, under Section 137B of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Investigators are probing CCTV footage, phone records, and calls made from a virtual number traced to California.
While the children are safe, the motive behind their abduction remains unclear.
Police say they are “yet to connect all the dots” and are examining multiple angles, including whether the act was planned or opportunistic.
Education Minister Rohit Thakur praised the “swift, precise, and coordinated action” of SSP Sanjeev Gandhi and his team, adding that the case showed “parents can trust the system to deliver under pressure.”
But outside the relief, serious questions are being fired at BCS management.
Parents allege gross negligence, pointing to the fact that three minors managed to leave school premises and end up nearly 80 kilometres away in the Kotkhai hills without immediate interception.
“This is a breach of trust — the school has a lot of explaining to do,” said one parent.
For now, the police are closing in on the motive, but the spotlight has shifted sharply onto BCS — and its responsibility to ensure such a breach never happens again.
OCA, Himachal Pradesh Chapter: We are very relieved that the missing children have been safely found.
We thank the investigating agencies for their professionalism and timely action in the matter, as well as to all the OC's for their concern.
We express our sincerest and heartfelt gratitude to the parents of the missing children for their cooperation and the dignified manner in which they conducted themselves in the integrum dispite being in immense pain and anguish.
-Dr. Arun Sirkeck
President
OCA (Himachal Chapter)
#Shimla #BCS #ChildSafety #HimachalPradesh #SchoolAccountability
