A 31-year-old man had a miraculous escape from being run over by a Delhi-bound train at Tatanagar station on Sunday night, thanks to the timely action by a lady railway constable.

Identified as Munna Sharma, the man wanted to get onto the running Neelanchal Express but his leg slipped off the train while he was still clutching the holding-bar with one hand.

As the train had picked up momentum, the passenger's legs were getting dragged between the running train and the platform, creating a dangerous situation.

But a railway lady police constable, Anandika Barik, on spotting the man acted with alacrity and ran along the train and succeeded in rescuing the passenger to safety.

The rescued passenger who is a resident of Hazaribagh district was subsequently administered first-aid for the bruises he sustained due to the dragging.

Inspector, Railway Protection Force (RPF), Tatanagar, Sanjay Kumar Tiwari said the passenger Munna Sharma would have met a fatal mishap if the lady constable had not acted in time.

"The railway police constable, Anandika Barik, is posted in the RPF's crime prevention team. She was on duty in civil dress at platform No 3 when the passenger tried to get into the running train at about 8pm on Sunday," said Tiwari to The Telegraph Online.

The inspector quoted the passenger as saying that if his rescue had been delayed by a few seconds further, then he would certainly be under the train's wheels.