A 31-year-old Dalit man from Bihar's Bhojpur district has been missing for ten months since he made a desperate phone call to his family saying excise police officers were beating him, and the Patna High Court is now pushing investigators to explain why the case has moved so slowly.
The Final Phone Call
On August 13, 2025, Sanoj Kumar called home to tell his family that the excise department had detained him near Bihiya. During that call, he told them, "Don't call me, the excise police are beating me." Moments later his phone switched off, and it has stayed unreachable ever since. His family says that call was the last time anyone heard from him.
Family's Search Across Five Districts
Sanoj's relatives allege that he was killed in custody and that his body was then disposed of to hide the crime. In the months that followed, the family searched for him across Bhojpur, Patna, Buxar, Chhapra and Aurangabad districts. Every time an unidentified body turned up anywhere in the region, family members rushed to check, hoping for answers, but none of those bodies turned out to be Sanoj. Desperate for justice, the family also approached both the State Human Rights Commission and the National Human Rights Commission.
Patna High Court Questions the Investigation
Sanoj's father eventually filed a petition in the Patna High Court. During the hearing, the court expressed sharp displeasure over how slowly the investigation was proceeding, remarking that it appeared as though the investigating agency was helping the accused rather than pursuing them. The court has directed the police to speed up the probe and conduct a fair, thorough investigation into the case.
CCTV Footage and Contradicting Statements
The investigation found that the last known location of Sanoj's mobile phone was near the Jagdishpur excise police station. Excise officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly changed their version of events. They first denied detaining him at all, then later admitted that they had caught three people. At one point officials claimed that one of the young men had jumped out of a moving vehicle and fled, but after reviewing CCTV footage, the Patna High Court raised serious doubts about that account as well.
Seven Arrested, But Sanoj Still Not Found
Following the investigation, seven people have been arrested and sent to judicial custody, including two Assistant Sub-Inspectors from the excise department, three home guard personnel and two private drivers. All of the government employees involved have also been suspended from service. Yet the central question remains unanswered: where is Sanoj Kumar? Even after these arrests, ten months on, there is still no trace of him.
