The accused in the Guwahati hotel shooting that killed five people died in police firing in Sivasagar district on Wednesday after police said he snatched a service pistol, opened fire at an escort team and attempted to escape custody. The incident occurred hours after a court sent him to 14 days of judicial custody in the original case.
Police identified the deceased as 34-year-old businessman Ghanakanta Gogoi. According to Sivasagar SSP Papori Chetia, Gogoi asked the escort team to stop near Fulpanisiga at around 3am, saying he wanted to use the toilet. Police said he then allegedly took the service pistol of sub-inspector Debasish Sarma and fired three rounds at the team, injuring the officer.
The police subsequently opened fire, citing the need to protect the injured officer and prevent Gogoi from escaping, the SSP said. Gogoi sustained bullet injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died, according to the police account.
Gogoi had been arrested on the night of October 26 after surrendering at Basistha Police Station in Guwahati. Police said a licensed .32-bore pistol allegedly used in the shooting at Hotel Bilas Inn was recovered along with him. The shooting, which police have linked to a financial dispute between Gogoi and the Bharali family, left five people dead and one person injured.
Those killed were hotel co-owners Bhudev Bharali, 65, and his sister Helena, 58; Helena’s son Debarshi Kashyap, 39; her daughter-in-law Rinika Kashyap, 30; and family staffer Narayan Das, 48. Satyendra Pathak, 43, the family’s driver, was injured and was undergoing treatment at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, according to the report.
Gogoi had taken the hotel on a five-year lease in September last year. The October 26 shooting led to his arrest and a police investigation into the dispute and the deaths at the hotel.
The latest incident also follows specific safeguards issued by the chief judicial magistrate’s court when Gogoi was remanded to police custody on October 27. The court directed that adequate patrolling forces accompany him if he was taken out for evidence-discovery procedures between sunset and sunrise. It also ordered that a deputy superintendent of police-rank officer accompany him during such an exercise.
The court further directed the police not to subject Gogoi to custodial torture and required the investigating officer to ensure that he underwent a medical examination every 24 hours during police remand. After the police remand ended, Gogoi was produced before the court on Tuesday and sent to judicial custody for 14 days. Police later took him into custody from jail in connection with a separate case registered in Sivasagar.
The account of the firing has been provided by the Sivasagar police, who said the investigation and subsequent proceedings would follow the death. The immediate police action cited by the SSP was the treatment of the injured sub-inspector and the attempt to stop Gogoi from escaping custody.
