PATNA/ARA, July 4 -- Following instructions of the Patna high court in the mysterious disappearance of one Sanoj Kumar, a Dalit youth, from the police custody, Bhojpur police have arrested seven persons, including sub-inspector (SI), assistant SI of the Excise and Prohibition Department, three Home Guard jawans and two drivers, officials said on Friday. He has been missing since August 13, 2025. Those arrested are Dheeraj Kumar (SI); Raju Kumar (ASI); Dharmendra Paswan, Umesh Kumar Yadav and Raju Kumar (home guard jawans); and drivers Raju Kumar Singh and Vikash Kumar. The court had issued instructions in response to a Habeas Corpus Criminal Writ (HCCW) filed with the Patna HC on April 17 by Sanoj's father, Gauri Shankar Ram, seeking a CBI investigation of the case. He had earlier filed an FIR with the Bihiya police station on October 14, 2025 under BNS section 137(2) (kidnapping) against unknown excise officials. In the FIR, Sanoj's father Gauri Shankar informed that his son made a call and informed him that he had been caught by Excise Police near Dharhara Musahar Toli falling under Bihiya police station, thereafter his mobile phone was showing switched off. When Shankar started looking for his son, he came to know from villagers at Dharhara Musahar Toli that some boys were caught by the police. Shankar could also not find the bike which was in his son's name. He further made a representation to the Bhojpur SP, wherein he said that despite a lapse of 20 days, his son had not been recovered. He, however, didn't get any proper answer. Some persons informed him that his son was allegedly brutally assaulted by police and that he was pulled by a towel wrapped around his neck. He later came to know that a camera in a private house had captured the footage that showed his son being put into a government vehicle. On May 2026, the double bench of Patna HC, Justice Rajiv Ranjan Prasad and Kumar Manish, while hearing the HCCW, ordered Bhojpur SP to personally supervise this case in the nature of allegations made in the writ petition and submit a report of it to this Court as to the action taken so far on the FIR lodged by Gauri Shankar. Bhojpur SP in the counter-affidavit has admitted that during investigation of the case, it came to light that the Excise Department, Bhojpur, had conducted a raid on August 13, 2025, the raiding team had arrested some persons. It is stated that according to the Excise raid team, all arrested people were released. However, the raiding team did not report the fact to the Bihiya Police that when the raiding team along with the arrested people reached near Chaurasta, one arrested person jumped from the jeep and fled away. The counter-affidavit stated that the IO (investigating officer) had collected and observed the CCTV footage near the place of occurrence at the main road but no clear visible photo of the vehicle or the person involved could be discerned from the footage. On the recommendation of DSP (Jagdishpur), polygraph test of all the raiding members of the department who had conducted the raid at Dharhara Musahar Toli was been carried out and according to the Bihiya SHO, some of the members of the raiding team were made suspects in the case. The IO also found that out of two mobiles of the victims, the tower location of one was that of the Excise Police Station, Jagdishpur. "In course of interrogation of the arrested persons, it has been revealed that the victim Sanoj Kumar was taken into custody along with Manish Yadav and Mira Yadav. The Excise Police Officers who have been arrested and interrogated have been changing their statements and they have been making incongruous and inconsistent statements. It has also been revealed in course of interrogation that there was a scuffle with the victim Sanoj and the private driver who was driving the Excise Police Vehicle and he had put a towel around his neck and pulled him up. The name of the driver was Vikash Kumar. The statement of the Excise Police that the victim boy had jumped off the vehicle is also not found true," said Bhojpur SP Raaj. Meanwhile, the police are working to recover Sanoj Kumar based on technical and scientific evidence....