A constable on duty fell asleep on a Sealdah-bound train and woke up to find his loaded .303 rifle gone.

Shantanu Adhikary, attached to the Asansol unit of Government Railway Police (GRP), was suspended for dereliction of duty.

“He cooked up a story of criminals overpowering him between Dum Dum and Ultadanga stations and snatching his rifle,” said Barun Mallik, the superintendent of railway police, Sealdah.

Adhikary was in the four-member team, led by a sub-inspector, that boarded the Balia-Sealdah Express from Asansol around 3am on Thursday.

“He was sitting away from his colleagues, in an unreserved compartment, and dozed off with the rifle on his lap,” said a GRP officer.

When he woke up after the train left Dum Dum station, there was no trace of the rifle. He did not inform his superiors immediately.

“Adhikary waited till the train reached Sealdah. At the GRP office in Sealdah, he complained that a few youths had pinned him down between Dum Dum and Ultadanga. When the train slowed down, they jumped off with the rifle. He claimed that he had pulled the alarm but it did not work,” said an investigating officer.

“There were a number discrepancies in his statements. A preliminary investigation revealed that he had fallen asleep which led to the theft,” said an officer.

Mallik and the additional director general of railway police, Dilip Mitra, questioned Mallik.