BHOPAL: Two rotis and a spoonful of sabzi every two days. Water every two or three days. Drugged day and night, losing all sense of time in a dark bug-infested cubbyhole, beaten and tortured, only one thing kept 35-year-old Sant Bahadur alive through 55 days of captivity - the faith that his father would move heaven and earth to get him back.His father Dilraj Singh kept the faith. So did Rewa Police, led by SP Sushant Saxena. They rescued Sant from his kidnappers in an extraordinary operation, arrested them and even retrieved the entire Rs 40 lakh ransom paid for his release. "Papa, I am alive and safe," were the first words Sant told his father over phone soon after being rescued in a daring raid in Bihar 's Muzaffarpur on August 8. Sant is still in no condition to talk about his ordeal, but his father spoke for him and told TOI about the 55 days of horror with the one of the most dreaded gangs of Bhopal , the Balinder Singh band. The kidnappers came in police uniform, he said. "Six gangsters, dressed as cops, stopped his vehicle near Mohania (Rewa) on July 23 and asked for the papers. As soon as he stepped out, he was attacked and bundled into the rear seat of their Safari. They kicked him and forced a drugged drink down his throat. When he regained consciousness, he was in a small room," Dilraj told TOI over phone on Sunday as they were taking Sant home to Sidhi from Muzaffarpur.The torture began as soon as he was conscious. For the first 15 days, when Dilraj was desperately running around to arrange the Rs 40 lakh ransom, Sant was beaten, kicked and tortured every day."Water came in the tap every two-three days. For the entire time, they kept him drugged," Dilraj said. "Six people used to be present all the time in the house. At night, others used to gather there and drink, while Sant was kept locked in the room. After we agreed to pay, they did not torture him. But they drugged him all the time. Even his water was spiked sometimes.""I had to sell off jewellery of my daughters-in-law, wife. Some family members also gave me their jewellery. But it only fetched me Rs 8-9 lakh. The rest of the money was arranged by taking loans from relatives -- someone gave Rs 1 lakh, some gave Rs 50,000. We arranged the Rs 40 lakh," he said. "But thanks to the police we got our money back," he said, adding: "I have no words to express my gratitude for Rewa SP and the other policemen. STF personnel risked their lives and even jumped from a running train to catch the gang and rescue my son."When he was rescued, Sant was in the same clothes he wore when he was kidnapped nearly two months ago. "He was starved. The first real meal he had in these 55 days was when the Muzaffarpur SP took him to his house and his wife offered him food," said Dilraj Singh, choking with emotion.Balinder was held along with four others, and the entire ransom recovered.

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