Guwahati, Oct 27 Assam Police on Tuesday formed a special investigation team to probe the firing at a hotel here a day ago that claimed five lives, with the bereaved family alleging the attack was planned and demanding exemplary punishment for the accused.
Joint Police Commissioner of Guwahati Ankur Jain will head the six-member SIT, according to an official statement.
The other team members were DCP (Central) Shambhavi Mishra, DCP (Crime) Debajit Nath, ADCP (Central) Viku Achumi, Inspector Kuleshjyoti Bhuyan, the officer-in-charge of Paltan Bazar police station, and Sub-Inspector Abinash Das of the same police precinct.
The police statement said the SIT has been constituted “in view of the gravity of the incident”, and to ensure a thorough, scientific and expeditious investigation.
Five people, including four of a family, were killed and another was injured in a shooting incident at Hotel Bilas Inn in the Bora Service area on Monday night over a dispute between the owners of the property and its leaseholder.
The leaseholder, Ghanakanta Gogoi (34), was arrested soon after the incident with a licensed pistol allegedly used in the crime, police said.
The deceased have been identified as Bhudev Bharali, his sister Helena, her son Debarshi Kashyap and daughter-in-law Rinika Kashyap, and family staffer Narayan Das. A driver of the Bharali family, Satyendra Pathak, was also injured in the shooting.
Bhudev Bharali, Narayan Das and Pathak had arrived from Barpeta earlier on Monday, while the other victims were residents of Guwahati.
Dilip Bharali, the elder brother of victims Bhudev and Helena, said Gogoi had convened a meeting with the family, which owns the hotel, to discuss pending dues and renewal of the lease.
Gogoi had taken the hotel on lease more than a year ago, but payments were pending for several months, and the lease agreement was also due for renewal, Bharali said.
“Gogoi had called us all for the meeting. Bhudev attended it, but I couldn’t as I was involved in the affairs of a local puja committee. It appears that Gogoi had planned the attack. He didn’t miss a single shot,” Bharali claimed.
“We are simple businessmen. We don’t support any violence. I urge the government to ensure that the most stringent punishment is meted out to the accused so that no one dares to commit such a crime in future,” he added.
Family members of the deceased received the bodies after post-mortem at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). All five bodies were taken to Barpeta for last rites on Monday evening.
The two children of Debarshi and Rinika were taken to their ancestral Barpeta residence by family members from their Guwahati house, while Rinika’s family also reached from Manipur following the incident.
The lone survivor of the incident, Pathak, is undergoing treatment at the GMCH. GMCH Superintendent Devajit Choudhury said the bullet had passed through Pathak’s right hand without damaging any vital nerves.
“He is in a stable condition. He will require further tests and will have to remain in the hospital for a few more days,” Choudhury said.
Sharing details of the incident, the police statement said the Paltan Bazar police station received information about multiple gunshots at the hotel around 9 pm on Monday.
Police teams rushed to the location and found four people dead at the hotel reception area and two injured on the approach road, it said. The injured were shifted to GMCH, where one of them succumbed to injuries.
The accused Gogoi hailed from Dibrugarh and was currently residing at Sawkuchi in Guwahati. “Initial investigation indicates that the incident was the fallout of a dispute over the lease and management of Hotel Bilas Inn,” it added.
The Bharali family had entered into a five-year lease agreement with the accused on September 10, 2025, at a monthly rent of approximately Rs 1.8 lakh. Following renovation of the property by the accused, disagreements arose regarding the use of the premises and provision of certain facilities, police said.
A meeting was scheduled at the hotel on Monday to resolve these issues. However, even before the meeting could commence, an argument escalated into a fight, following which Gogoi opened fire on six people, the statement said.
“Several empty cartridge cases and live cartridges of .32 calibre were recovered and seized. The accused is being interrogated,” the police statement added.
(PTI News)
