Lease dispute suspected motive behind shooting that left 5 people dead in Guwahati

Guwahati police commissioner said that all the deceased are associated with the hotel owner and that leaseholder himself fired and killed them.

A dispute over the lease of a hotel in Guwahati is suspected to have led to a shooting that left five people dead and one injured on Monday evening near Hotel Bilas Inn in the Assam capital, officials aware of the matter said.

Guwahati police commissioner Partha Sarathi Mahanta said, “Six people sustained gunshot wounds. (Representative Image (HT_PRINT))

A woman and her son were among five people killed after a man opened fire at six people. The accused, identified as Ghanakanta Gogoi, has been arrested and cops have recovered the pistol he allegedly used to shoot the victims, officials said.

According to Guwahati Police Commissioner Partha Sarathi Mahanta, the incident happened at around 9pm near Hotel Bilas Inn in Guwahati’s Bora Service area, and six persons sustained bullet injuries.

“We recovered four bodies from the spot initially, and one more injured person succumbed during treatment at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). One person is undergoing treatment,” he said.

Lease dispute suspected to be behind shooting

While police are yet to establish a motive behind the shooting, a lease dispute likely triggered the attack. The Guwahati Police Commissioner said Gogoi had taken Hotel Bilas Inn on lease around a year ago.

Initial investigations indicate that Helena and her family were residents of Barpeta and had shifted to Guwahati nearly two decades ago to establish businesses. Gogoi is a resident of Guwahati and had been in contact with the family a few years ago.

“As far as our initial investigation is concerned, Gogoi had taken the hotel on lease from Bharali around a year ago, and they were involved in a dispute that could have led to the firing. The accused has been arrested and we will question him,” Mahanta said.

“We are yet to come to any conclusion regarding the motive behind the act,” he said, adding that police are examining the circumstances in which the licensed pistol was used and the precise sequence of events that left five people dead and one injured.

5 killed as accused opens fire

Helena was the first person to be shot by Gogoi, followed by her son, Debarshi Kashyap, and her elder brother, Bhudeb Bharali, according to police. All three died.

According to GMCH principal Babul Kumar Bezbaruah, a person named Nayan Das (48) also died, while Satyendra Pathak (42) was undergoing treatment for severe bullet injuries.

“Nayan was brought dead. The bullet got stuck in his mouth. Satyendra was bleeding so much because a bullet pierced part of his body, but he is responding to treatment now,” Bezbaruah said.

Both Nayan and Satyendra used to work at the hotel and were appointed by Helena Bharali, family members said.

Mahanta said a case has been registered against Gogoi and the police are investigating the matter further. He said police are examining whether disagreements over the lease and property were directly linked to the attack.

Police said the bodies have been sent to GMCH for postmortem examination and their family members have been formally informed about the incident.

The incident took place around 9pm near Hotel Bilas Inn, opposite Bora Service, on the arterial GS Road, about 2km from the Assam Police headquarters, said police officers aware of the matter.

“All the deceased are associated with the owner of the hotel. The leaseholder himself fired and killed them,” Mahanta added.