Five shot dead at Guwahati hotel, including owner and three of her family; leaseholder arrested

Five people, four of them from one family, were shot dead at Hotel Bilas Inn in Guwahati’s Bora Service area on Monday night, and the man who had leased the hotel has been arrested, Assam police said. A sixth person was injured and is being treated at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).

The shooting took place at around 9 pm on 26 October. Among those killed were the hotel’s owner, Helena Bharali, her son, her daughter-in-law and her brother, Bhudev Bharali, police and relatives said. The fifth victim, Narayan Das, died at GMCH. The injured man, Satyendra Pathak, is the hotel’s caretaker, India Today reported.

The accused, Ghanakanta Gogoi, had taken the hotel on lease about a year ago, Guwahati Police Commissioner Partha Sarathi Mahanta said. Police caught him within an hour of the shooting.

“Six persons sustained gunshot injuries and five succumbed to it. The accused has been apprehended and the weapon seized. We think the incident stemmed from a property dispute regarding the lease of the hotel,” Mahanta told reporters, according to The Indian Express.

Mahanta said the weapon was a licensed .32-bore pistol. “Interrogation is underway, and preliminary investigation suggests that the incident stemmed from a property dispute related to the lease agreement of the hotel,” he said, India Today reported. The pistol’s magazine was found empty and its licence was reportedly issued in Nagaland, The Sentinel reported.

Helena Bharali’s elder brother, Dilip Bharali, alleged that Gogoi had stopped paying what he owed. “Hotel Bilas Inn was on lease, but Gogoi had not paid the rent, electricity bills or any other dues. We had requested him to clear the payments, and the lease agreement was also about to end,” he said on Tuesday, according to The Assam Tribune. He appealed to the authorities to ensure the accused received the strictest punishment. These claims have not been tested in court.

Gogoi was arrested by Basistha police in the Saukuchi area and handed over to Paltan Bazar police on Tuesday morning, where he is being questioned about the sequence of events and the motive, according to The Sentinel. Police have said a detailed investigation is under way.