A robber drowned on Monday night after he jumped into the Buridihing river to escape the police at Kaliapani in Naharkatia in Upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district.

A source said a distribution collector for Airtel, Purushottam Chetry, was returning after collecting dues from the vendors, around Rs 5 lakh, when he was intercepted by four motorcycle-borne men carrying a gun.

A police source said the four men pointed the gun towards the victim and snatched the bag of money from him. The men then hit him on the head and fled.

The victim then immediately called his manager and also informed the police about the incident.

Taking prompt action, the police managed to catch up with the robbers.

After being cornered at Sasoni, the robbers tried to escape by shooting at the police. However, realising they were outnumbered, two of them abandoned their motorcycle and jumped into the Buridihing river nearby.

The police said one of the robbers might have been injured and drowned while the other was arrested. The deceased was identified as Tarun Gogoi of Tingkhong Kopou-huwa village while the arrested person was identified as Karuna Gogoi of Naharkatia Balimora village.

The police also recovered an imported 7.65mm pistol along with three rounds of ammunition from Karuna and Rs 1 lakh. Karuna confessed he was involved in the robbery but he did not know the other two persons who escaped, as they were brought by Tarun for committing the robbery.

Police sent Tarun’s body to Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh, for post-mortem.

A hunt is on for the other two suspects.

Additional reporting by Pradip Kumar Neog in Duliajan