Anil Kumar Singh was bleeding profusely from the gunshot wound but continued to hold on to the robber till help arrived.

The robber was handed over to police and Singh was taken to the Patna Medical College Hospital, where he died.

Police moved swiftly to arrest the five other robbers after interrogating Rinku, the one whom Singh caught. The arms used by the robbers and the booty was also recovered.

Police said all the robbers were youths in their twenties and new to crime. Rinku was from Ara and had passed his matriculation in 2002.

According to eye-witnesses, the gang got on to an AC carriage of the train about 12.40 pm, when it slowed down between Rajendra Nagar terminal and Patna Junction. The young men started robbing the passengers at gunpoint.

Singh, who was travelling with his wife and daughter-in-law to Mumbai, where his son lives, put up a fight and goaded the other passengers to do so. When he held on to Rinku, another robber shot him with a country-made revolver at close range. The other robbers then ran away. That the robbery took place in daylight and in the heart of Patna has come as an embarrassment to the Nitish Kumar government, which had promised to improve the law & order situation in the state within three months of coming to power.

Passengers said there was no police guard in the carriage even though the Rajendra Nagar locality is notorious for robberies.“RPF men were scheduled to board the train from Patna junction,” said East Central Railway PRO A K Chandra. Railway SP G P Sinha said the robbers were held from a hideout in the Karbigahia area of Patna. “They were enjoying lunch when we raided the place,” he said. “Valuables looted were also recovered.”

The DIG’s family was shattered after the incident. Singh had retired some two years back. Since then he had been practising as an advocate at Patna High Court.