Around 10 armed robbers struck New Jalpaiguri-Danapur Capital Express and looted cash and valuables worth several thousands from its passengers between Bakhtiyarpur and Karauta railway stations in the small hours.

A passenger, Nazma Khatoon (34), a homemaker from Kishanganj, suffered severe head injuries while resisting the dacoits, who attacked her with revolver butts in the presence of her husband, Mohammad Junaid. She suffered further injury when the men opened fire. An army havildar, Rakesh Kumar (34), who was on way to the Bihar regimental centre at Danapur from his native place in Bengal, was their next target.

Both Khatoon and Rakesh were travelling in S-1 coach of the Danapur-bound train, when the incident took place over a distance of around 12km between 2.39am and 2.58am. The criminals pelted stones before opening fire on the police escort team to safely escape with the booty.

Patna superintendent of rail police (SRP) Jitendra Mishra said: "The criminals started looting after the train left Bakhtiyarpur railway station around 2.39am under the jurisdiction of Danapur railway division of East Central Railway. Six passengers were robbed of cash, jewellery and cellphones. The group alighted from the train after pulling the emergency chain."

The SRP said it appeared that the robbers alighted from the train when it stopped at the outer signal of Karauta railway station, as the track was not clear. When members of the escort team, who were in the S-2 coach, alighted from the train to find out the reason for the unscheduled halt, the robbers threw stones at them.

On seeing the escort party, the passengers raised an alarm. The dacoits started firing indiscriminately. The police also fired in self-defence. After a brief exchange of fire, the robbers escaped towards Alipur and Bidhi villages, close to the railway track.

"Though our men chased them, the criminals managed to escape under the cover of darkness," the SRP told The Telegraph. The train resumed its journey from the site of occurrence around 3.25am.

The police later recovered five bags abandoned in a nearby field. The bags were handed over to the owners after verification of their identities. Rakesh told the police that his bag contained Rs 2,000, his uniform and some costly clothes.

"I thought it better to hand over the articles, which they asked for," said Shashi Bhushan Sinha (55), a resident of Kumhrar in old Patna City.

Khatoon was provided first aid after the train reached Rajendra Nagar Terminal. The Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel also recorded the statements of the victims as well as members of the escort team.

"Though no casualty (death) has been reported in the incident, it has sent a wrong message. If such incidents occur at short intervals, we will not prefer to travel by train," said a terrified passenger at Rajendra Nagar Terminal.

GRP sources said Alipur village near Bakhtiyarpur had acquired notoriety because of the involvement of a number of residents in railway crimes such as loot in running trains apart from theft of goods from brake vans. "While some were released on bail, others were still lodged in jail," an investigating officer said.

Earlier, the passengers travelling by the Capital Express had fallen prey to robbers in January last year. The state has recorded over a dozen incidents of robberies in running trains in 2015 of which the majority was solved.