Five Killed in Shooting Near Guwahati Hotel, Accused Arrested Within an Hour

Five people died and one person is in treatment after a shooting in the Bora Service area of Guwahati on Monday evening, police said. Six people were hit by gunfire near a Kalyan Jewellers outlet in a lane adjoining Hotel Bilas Inn, in the Ulubari area of the Assam capital, IANS reported. Police said the shooting took place before 9 p.m. local time, and preliminary information says the gunman fired seven rounds.

Arrest within an hour

Guwahati Police Commissioner Partha Sarathi Mahanta said the weapon used was a licensed .32 bore pistol. Police arrested the accused, identified as Ghanakanta Gogoi, and seized the pistol, and the commissioner said the accused was apprehended within an hour of the incident, in an ANI statement carried by The Daily Jagran and reported by DY365.

"Five of them died due to their injuries, and one person is undergoing treatment," Mahanta said, according to DY365.

Earlier in the evening, the commissioner had confirmed a lower toll. "An unfortunate incident took place in the midst of Guwahati today, we got four bodies and accordingly, the bodies have been sent for post mortem at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). We will soon nab the culprits," he said in the earlier statement reported by DY365. The toll later rose from four dead to five.

Victims from one family and one village

Four of the five people who died belonged to the same family and the fifth person was from their village, the Police Commissioner said in the ANI statement. The person still in treatment is also from the same village, he said.

The dead include the hotel owner, Helena Bharali, and her son, DY365 reported. This article does not name the son because two reports in the source pack give different names for him, and no further official source had resolved that difference when this article was written. Narayan Das, 48, also died at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, DY365 reported.

Lease dispute under investigation

A preliminary investigation suggests the shooting may have stemmed from a property dispute linked to the hotel lease agreement, DY365 and The Guwahati reported. Gogoi had reportedly leased the hotel, which is owned by Helena Bharali, and The Guwahati reported he had taken the hotel on lease about a year ago.

Police are investigating whether the lease dispute was connected to the shooting. That link is a preliminary police suspicion at this stage, not an established finding, and the investigation is continuing.