Patna, Jan. 12: After 20 hours of ordeal, abducted doctor Yogendra Prasad became a free man yesterday night. But the abductors’ knock on his door is still reverberating in his ears.

“I heard a knock on the door around 1am on Monday night,” Yogendra told The Telegraph.

“I have a clinic downstairs. I thought a patient might have come. When I opened the door, I saw some persons with a patient. The person feigning ailment looked really ill. The persons accompanying him told me he was suffering from severe pain in his stomach. When I and my compounder, Chhote, stepped out, they caught hold of me. I was beaten up. They covered my face and pushed me into a vehicle,” he told The Telegraph over phone from his Manjhulia village in Sitamarhi.

“I was always in the vehicle and they kept beating me. They also asked me to remain silent and threatened to kill me otherwise. I really don’t know what was happening. Last night, they dragged me out of the car and left me on a field. I somehow got up and saw a tubewell. I went there for some water when I saw a boy. I asked him for help, after which he took me to an elderly man. He helped me get in touch with my family and police. I am lucky to be alive and out of their clutches,” he added.

The abductors set free Prasad on a field in Dakwa village, 8km from his house, following intensified search operation of the police.

Prasad has three daughters, the eldest living in Bangalore and pursuing medical studies. The second daughter is an engineering student in Chennai while the youngest studies in Class VII at Birla Public School, Pilani, in Rajasthan.

The police had arrested one Devender Thakur, a resident of the Pakharia village near Majhaulia, on Tuesday morning in connection with the doctor’s kidnapping.

Director-general of police (DGP) Neel Mani said: “The doctor was released within 20 hours after he was abducted. Devender Thakur, the mastermind of the crime, has been arrested and the police are interrogating him. Raids are on in the India-Nepal border region to nab the others involved in the abduction,” the DGP said.

Officers at Bela police station, under which Majhaulia village comes, said the kidnappers released the doctors around 10pm on Tuesday.

Mohammed Abbas Khan, a sub-inspector at the police station, said six persons were involved in the abduction.

“We had arrested Devender from his home in Pakharia village. He is the mastermind behind the abduction.

The officer added the policemen were continuously conducting raids to nab the rest of the people.

“One of the reasons why the kidnappers could not call the doctor’s family for ransom was because of the constant pressure the police exerted on them. Their idea was to cross the border and then ask for ransom,” Khan added.