Dumka, June 29: An armed gang robbed passengers on board the 209 Up Howrah-Barauni passenger last evening.

The incident occurred around 7.45pm on Saturday evening when the train was travelling between Sahebganj and Karamtola stations on the Bhagalpur-Barharwa loop section of Eastern Railway.

Cash and valuables over Rs one lakh is expected to have been looted.

Around 8.45pm, when the train was near Karamtola signal — about 6km to 7km from Sahebganj station — the robbers stopped the train and escaped, said chief of Sahebganj Government Railway Police Rajesh Kumar.

He said passengers in four compartments were looted. There was no escort party of the GRP or the RPF on the train, he added.

A.K. Panday, who was travelling to Bhagalpur on the train, said pistol-wielding robbers started looting the passengers soon after the train left Sahebganj.

“There was no light inside the compartments. When I opposed them, one of them hit me in my head with the pistol,” he said.

About six other passengers were also injured in the incident. They have been referred to a Bhagalpur hospital for better treatment.

When the train reached Karamtola, passengers stopped it for over two hours to protest against the “reckless attitude” of the administration in checking train robberies.