Ghanakanta Gogoi, the prime accused in the shooting at Hotel Bilas Inn in Guwahati that claimed five lives, was sent to judicial custody on November 3 after completing seven days of police remand. Police did not seek further custody for interrogation.
The 34-year-old businessman was produced before the court after his remand ended. He was arrested within an hour of the October 26 incident, in which five people, including four members of the hotel-owning Bharali family, were killed and another person injured.
The shooting followed a dispute over the lease and management of the hotel in the Bora Service area. Preliminary police findings indicated that the Bharali family had leased the property to Gogoi for five years on September 10, 2025, at a monthly rent of around Rs 1.8 lakh. Disagreements reportedly arose after Gogoi renovated the hotel, particularly over its use and the provision of certain facilities.
A meeting was scheduled on October 26 to resolve the dispute, but an argument allegedly escalated into a physical altercation before it began, following which Gogoi allegedly opened fire on six people.
The deceased were identified as hotel co-owners Helena Bharali (58) and Bhudev Bharali (65), Helena’s son Debarshi Kashyap (39), daughter-in-law Rinika Kashyap (30), and family staff member Narayan Das (48). Family driver Satyendra Pathak sustained bullet injuries and survived.
Police arrested Gogoi shortly after the shooting and seized a licensed .32-bore pistol allegedly used in the crime.
A six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Joint Commissioner of Police Ankur Jain, is investigating the case. On November 2, investigators took Gogoi to the hotel to reconstruct the crime scene using dummy bodies and a dummy firearm.
The SIT has also obtained the arms licence of the pistol allegedly used in the shooting and questioned Gogoi’s wife, Junmoni Gogoi, as part of the investigation.
