Patna, Sep 7 - Five armed policemen who failed to act when robbers looted handicapped passengers on a train have been suspended, authorities said here Monday.

Armed robbers Saturday looted nearly a dozen handicapped passengers, and shot and injured one of them on the Danapur-Howrah express train in Bihar.

'The escort party was suspended and departmental action against them has been recommended,' Superintendent of Police Upendra Kumar Singh said. The five policemen forming the train's escort party were armed, as is the norm in robbery-prone Bihar.

The robbers shot and injured school teacher Vishwakarma Sharma before looting the other handicapped passengers on the train between Karauta and Bhakhtiyarpur stations near Patna.