The Government Railway Police and the RPF are probing the death of an ex-serviceman who died in firing in a general compartment of a Delhi-bound train on Monday late evening, minutes before the train reached New Jalpaiguri station.

The deceased has been identified as Sanjay Singh Parmar, 41, a resident of Madhya Pradesh's Sikroda village in Bhind district.

On Monday, as the Kamakhya-Anand Vihar Express was heading towards NJP, passengers heard some gunshots in one of the general coaches of the train. Soon, Parmar was found lying in a pool of blood with what looked like a bullet injury in his abdomen.

Passengers panicked and the GRP and RPF officers rushed to the coach for a probe.

They found Parmar’s identity card and a .32 bore pistol, and three empty cartridges. “It was a licensed firearm,” said a source.

In the course of the probe, police came to know Parmar was in the Indian army and had retired in 2016.

“Since then, he was working as a private security guard. He had been to Guwahati in search of a job,” said a source.

The investigators learnt that Parmar was apparently drunk as he boarded the train and climbed to the upper berth of the coach. When some other passengers asked him to share the space, he reportedly refused, which led to an altercation.

"He took out the gun to scare others. Gunshots were fired and he was hit by a bullet,” a source added.

However, it is not yet clear if Parmar accidentally shot himself or someone else snatched his gun and shot him.

After the firing, passengers on the train had to face inconveniences. Policemen removed his body and spoke with a number of passengers in the same coach. The coach was detached from the train and its passengers shifted to other compartments.

Eventually, the train departed from NJP after three hours and 17 minutes.

“The compartment has been kept in NJP. Forensic experts from Calcutta will examine it. Parmar's kin reached here and the body has been handed over to them after post-mortem,” said a source.