Five people were killed, and one was injured when gunshots were fired at Hotel Bilas Inn in Guwahati’s Lachit Nagar on Monday night. The Guwahati Police have arrested Ghanakanta Gogoi in connection with the shooting and seized the pistol allegedly used in the attack.
Police sources have said that Ghanakanta Gogoi has previous pending cases against him in several police stations in Assam.
The date and circumstances of the reported incident, whether a police case was registered and whether it has any connection with Monday’s shooting remain unclear. The lease agreement and the reported investment in renovations are among the issues being examined as investigators piece together the events that preceded the shooting. When officers reached the hotel, they found four people dead in the reception area and two others injured on the approach road. One of the injured later died at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). The other remains under treatment. Police sources have further added that Ghanakanta has previous pending cases against him in several police stations in Assam. Cases are mostly related to fraud and brandishing of weapons. Helena Bharali, Debarshi Kashyap and Rinika Kashyap lived in Nabin Nagar in Guwahati. Bhudev Bharali and Narayan Das were residents of Barpeta. He is accused of opening fire during a meeting at the hotel called to resolve a dispute over its lease and management. The dispute reportedly centred on the use of the premises, the facilities to be provided and the terms under which the arrangement would continue. A meeting was scheduled for Monday to discuss the disagreement. Gogoi allegedly opened fire on those present. Investigators are checking his movements and trying to establish what happened in the hours leading up to the meeting. Sources have also referred to an alleged association with Assam Police, including postings in Dispur and at Basistha Police Station. His service history and the details of those alleged postings have not been independently verified. Gogoi was allegedly accused of displaying a firearm during that episode. The Guwahati Police Commissionerate has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the killings. The team is headed by Ankur Jain, IPS, Joint Commissioner of Police, Guwahati. Its members are Shambhavi Mishra, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central); Dr Debajit Nath, APS, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime); Viku Achumi, IPS, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central); Inspector Kuleshjyoti Bhuyan, Officer-in-Charge of Paltan Bazar Police Station; and Sub-Inspector Abinash Das of Paltan Bazar Police Station. The team will investigate the circumstances surrounding the firing, examine the forensic evidence and record witness statements. Four members of the hotel owner’s family are among the five people killed. Pathak, the sole surviving injured person, remains under treatment at GMCH. Police have yet to establish the complete sequence of events and the immediate trigger for the firing. The allegations against Gogoi remain subject to the ongoing investigation and the due process of law.
Police said Paltan Bazar Police Station received information about the firing at around 9 pm on October 26. The victims have been identified as Bhudev Bharali, 65, Helena Bharali, 58, Debarshi Kashyap, 39, Rinika Kashyap, 30, and Narayan Das, 48. The injured survivor is Satyendra Pathak, 43. Gogoi, 34, is originally from Naharkatia in Dibrugarh district and was living in the Sawkuchi area of Guwahati with his family, police said. The hotel owners entered into a five-year lease agreement with Gogoi on September 10 last year, at a monthly rent of around Rs 1.8 lakh, according to the police press release issued on Tuesday. Police sources said Gogoi had been operating the property under the lease for about a year and had spent approximately Rs 35 lakh on renovation work.
An argument broke out before the meeting could formally begin and escalated into a physical altercation, according to the police’s preliminary account. The Guwahati Police Commissionerate said Gogoi was traced to the Basistha Police Station area and taken into custody within about an hour of the shooting. Police sources said Gogoi had travelled from Sonitpur before the incident. Gogoi is being interrogated by the investigating officer, police said.
Sources have also referred to an alleged earlier incident in which four to five people reportedly threatened a businessman and demanded money.
The precise sequence of events, including what triggered the confrontation, remains under investigation. Teams from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) have been brought in to examine the evidence. A CCTV clip purportedly showing Gogoi firing at a man inside the hotel has circulated online. The footage will need to be examined alongside witness accounts, forensic findings and other evidence collected by investigators.
Investigators recovered empty cartridge cases and live .32-calibre cartridges from the scene.
Sources familiar with the investigation said the owners wanted Gogoi to vacate the hotel, while he wanted to recover the money he had invested in its renovation.
