Naugachia: Criminals shot at an assistant station manager (ASM) on duty at Katareah, a railway halt on the Baruni-Katihar section of East Central Railway's Sonepur division, some 220km east of Patna, on Tuesday night.

Around 5-6 criminals, suspected to be the members of a wagon-brokers' gang are suspected to be behind the attack.

Rishikesh Kumar, 35, sustained two bullets in his belly and was admitted to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition along with RPF constable Manohar Yadav, 31, who the criminals had earlier beaten up.

According to Naugachia's government railway police station house officer (SHO) Bhola Mahato, the incident happened around 1.30am when RPF constable Manohar, who was on duty, found some 5-6 people moving around suspiciously on platform No-2 of Katareah station.

"When he asked them why they were loitering around on the platform so late in the night, they, at first, confronted him and then began beating him up mercilessly," the SHO said.

"Manohar, who somehow managed to escape from the criminals, entered the station manager's room and bolted it from inside. But the criminals gave chase and fired 5-6 rounds from the ticket counter window on one side of the room. They aimed at Manohar, but the bullets hit ASM Rishikesh."

The criminals made good their escape soon after.

The Naugachia GRP SHO rushed Rishikesh and Monohar to Naugachia sub-divisional hospital at night.

From there the two injured persons were sent to JLNMC hospital in Bhagalpur.

Doctors at JLNMCH said the ASM's condition was "not safe". "We are keeping him under observation for the next 48 hours. We might refer him to Patna or some other place for better treatment," a junior doctor in Bhagalpur said. Manohar is said to be stable.

Superintendent of railway police, GRP, Katihar, Dilip Kumar Mishra under whose jurisdictions the area falls, reached Katareah station on Tuesday morning. The GRP suspects the incident was the handiwork of wagon brokers' gang active in the area. "Some 15-20 days ago the gang had stolen 20 bags of sugar from a goods train after breaking the lock of goods train wagon," said a GRP official.

Mishra said combing operations are on, with the help of Naugachia police, to arrest the criminals behind the crime. "Since the incidents were carried out by unidentified persons, we are trying to get help from scientific methods to search out them," he told today.