An uneasy calm prevailed on Friday at Subhash Nagar in south Patna in contrast to the din of the city. A two-storeyed house along a narrow and dusty lane in the Khemni Chak area is home to Kumar Amit’s in-laws.

The 32-year old was one of the three persons killed by Maoists on the Dhanbad-Patna Intercity Express in Jamui on Thursday afternoon.

On Friday, neighbouring Bengal celebrated Jamai Shashthi — a day sons-in-law are pampered. For this household, it was a sorrowful day. The ghar ka damaad (son-in-law) won’t ever return.

“He was like our ghar ka damaad. Last year, Amit got married to Anjali, the daughter of Upendra Narayan Singh, a police officer. In Bihar, the son-in-law of a person enjoys same relationship with everyone residing in the village or the area. Amit stayed here for around a year-and-a-half and then rented a house in the Jagdeo Path area,” said Raju Kumar, a resident of the area.

On June 12, Kumar left for Jamui from the city where he was posted as a sub-inspector with the Patrakar Nagar police station since May 2011. He was scheduled to return on Thursday. “He had gone to Jamui regarding a case. His parental home is in Tanghara village in the same district,” an officer at the Patrakar Nagar police station said.

When The Telegraph knocked on the door of Kumar’s in-laws on Friday, a teenager came out. “What more do we have to say? There is just grief and anger. He was my brother-in-law. Since the incident, no police officer has visited us. We just knew that he was on his way back to Patna on that train. Then we saw the news on TV and heard about the attack. We were confused and didn’t know what to do. For at least half-an-hour, we didn’t know how to react. We called him on his cellphone but no one picked up. The reality sank in a bit later. There are women in the house and there is no need for you to come in,” said the boy, who refused to divulge his name.

Residents of Ghoda Tola in Purnea, around 320km east of the city, were shell-shocked when they saw the body of 28-year-old Mohammed Sarwar Islam on Friday. Islam met with the same fate as Kumar. A bullet hit him during the crossfire.

A customer executive with a private firm since five months, Islam had gone to Jamui on Wednesday regarding official work. He was killed before he could reach Lakhisarai.

When Islam’s body arrived on Thursday, the faces of his neighbours reflected shock and angst. They blocked National Highway 31 from 11am to 3pm near Line Bazaar area finding no government officer, nor any public representative.

Islam’s father Mohammed Islam is an attendant at a private nursing home.

While the residents of Subhash Nagar in Patna and Ghoida Tola in Purnea were numb, Manoj Kumar Singh, (48), a Grade IV employee of the railways posted at Jamalpur workshop in Munger is happy to be alive. He is being treated in the ICU of Patna Medical College and Hospital for his bullet wounds.

Singh, who was in the S-3 coach of the train, was hit by a bullet in his right hand. He also suffered shrapnel injuries in abdomen. He had boarded the train at Jasidih railway station in Giridih, Jharkhand.

“It was around 1pm and I was taking a nap. Suddenly I heard people crying for help. Before I could understand what was happening, a stray bullet hit me on my right hand piercing through the window,” Singh said.

“There was none to attend to me. All the passengers had taken shelter under the seats,” Singh said. Finding no medical help, Singh asked a co-passenger to tie his hand with a piece of cloth,” Singh added.

“Maut samne dikh raha tha (death was staring at me),” he said.