Ludhiana: A man on Tuesday opened fire at the Ludhiana railway station killing a vendor and injuring two Government Railway Police (GRP) head constables when they tried to check his luggage, police said.
The firing took place when the two GRP constables of the Narcotics Cell tried to check the man's bag who arrived in the Jammu-bound Jhelum Express at around 0330 hours IST at platform No. 4 of the railway station, they said.
The gunman, identified as Balbir Singh Bhootna, immediately got down and hid himself under a compartment of the Jhelum Express and opened at the police which retaliated.
"Bhootna was arrested after an exchange of fire which lasted around one hour," Ludhiana Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sukhchain Singh told PTI.
A woman, who was accompanying the man, has also been taken into custody, Singh said.
The two injured head constables have been identified as Karanpal Singh and Naranjan Singh, he added.
It is believed that the man and the woman had arrived in the Jhelum Express from Nanded after boarding the train at Manmad in Maharashtra.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Railway Chander Shekhar told PTI on phone that Bhootna was a resident of Mauli Wala village in Ferozepur district.
Bhootna had fired from a .9mm pistol, the ADGP said without giving details of his group affiliation saying it would hamper the investigations.
The police was also trying to ascertain the identity of the woman and her relationship with Bhootna, he added.
Bhootna had been declared a Proclaimed Offender in a case of recovery of arms and ammunition in Jalandhar district about three years back, police said.
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