Five Shot Dead at Guwahati Hotel, Owner's Son, Daughter-in-Law Among Victims

Five people, including a hotel owner and four members of her family or associates, were shot dead at Hotel Bilas Inn in Guwahati following an alleged dispute over the property's lease agreement, police said.

The incident occurred around 9 pm on Monday at the hotel on GS Road, opposite Bora Service and about two kilometres from Assam Police headquarters. Six people sustained gunshot injuries, of whom five succumbed, while the sixth was undergoing treatment at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).

The deceased were identified as Helena Bharali, the hotel owner; her son, Devarshi Kashyap; daughter-in-law, Riniki Kashyap; brother, Bhudev Bharali; and Narayan Das, a driver associated with the family.

The injured survivor was identified as Satyendra Pathak, 42, who sustained a gunshot wound with entry and exit injuries. Hospital officials said he was stable and receiving treatment.

Police arrested the alleged shooter, Ghanakanta Gogoi, the hotel's leaseholder, within an hour of the incident in the Paltan Bazar area. A licensed .32-bore pistol suspected to have been used in the shooting was seized.

Police Commissioner Partha Sarathi Mahanta said preliminary investigations indicated that the firing stemmed from a dispute concerning the hotel's lease agreement. He said the deceased were associated with the property's owner and alleged that the leaseholder had opened fire.

Police are interrogating the accused and examining the circumstances leading to the shooting. The precise nature of the disagreement and the sequence of events leading to the killings remain under investigation.

Separately, a report said police records showed that Gogoi had faced an earlier alleged fraud case registered at Pulibor Police Station in Jorhat in June 2024. The outcome of that case was not immediately clear.

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi criticised the state's law-and-order situation following the killings and called for accountability.

The investigation into the shooting is continuing.