Patna, May 27: A 28-year-old woman was killed in a rush-hour express train at Mehsi station in East Champaran district this morning, sending shockwaves among commuters.

Police said the victim, identified as Bachchi Devi alias Aneeta, was attacked as soon as 15202 Raxaul-Hajipur Intercity Express arrived at Mehsi railway station on Muzaffarpur-Sugauli section of East Central Railway at 7.52am. The assailants, who were reportedly travelling in the same coach, pumped three bullets into Bachchi, causing grievous injuries. She died on way to the hospital.

The deceased's father Mahendra Prasad, a resident of Anjanapur in Muzaffarpur district, accused his son-in-law Mahesh Bhagat (Bachchi's husband) of plotting the murder. "A divorce case is pending in a family court at Muzaffarpur since 2007. The couple have no child," he said.

Mahesh is said to be a resident of Lohargama village under Kesaria police station in East Champaran district.

Mahendra, a marginal farmer, said Bachchi had boarded the train at Chakia railway station for Muzaffarpur where she was supposed to depose before the family court. "She was sitting near the gate of a general compartment when the criminals shot her," he told the investigating officers.

Bachchi was married to Mahesh in 2000. "The couple's relations got strained after she failed to deliver a child. They often quarrelled over the matter, which prompted her to lodge a divorce petition in the court. The court had recently ordered to pay maintenance to the petitioner till the case was disposed of," Bachchi's relative Lalbabu said.

Bapudham Motihari government railway police (GRP) station house officer (SHO) Saryu Ram said prima facie it appeared that the assailants were following the victim from her parents' house. "It could not be ascertained whether the assailants were travelling in the same compartment or arrived on the scene after the train stopped at Mehsi," he added.

Muzaffarpur rail superintendent of police (SRP) Vinod Kumar said he had asked the SHO to arrest the culprits at the earliest. He did not rule out the involvement of professional killers in the incident.

A relative told the police that Bachchi, in her statement before the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel at Mehsi station, revealed that she had been killed by her husband. "He (Mahesh) had earlier threatened me with dire consequences," an RPF official quoted the victim as saying.

Additional reporting by R.N. Sinha from Motihari