GUWAHATI, Nov 2: The quiet afternoon of a working Monday in Ulubari gave way to horror on the evening of October 26 when gunfire erupted inside Hotel Bilas Inn, a modest lodging house opposite Bora Service on Guwahati’s busy GS Road. By the time the last echoes faded, five people lay dead and one was fighting for his life. What began as a scheduled meeting to resolve differences over a hotel lease ended in one of the most shocking instances of urban violence the city has witnessed in years.
The deceased have been identified as Helena Bharali, 58, co-owner of the hotel; her elder brother Bhudev Bharali, 65, who had travelled from Barpeta; her son Debarshi Kashyap, 39; her daughter-in-law Rinika Kashyap, 30; and Narayan Das, 48, a long-time associate and caretaker linked to the family. Satyendra Pathak, 43, a driver and relative from the same Barpeta village, survived with gunshot injuries and remains under treatment at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.
Police say the accused, Ghanakanta Gogoi, 34, a resident of Sawkuchi who originally hails from Dibrugarh, had taken the hotel on a five-year lease on September 10, 2025, at a monthly rent of approximately ₹1.8 lakh. After carrying out renovations, disagreements arose over the use of the premises and certain facilities. A meeting was fixed for the evening of October 26 to sort out the differences. According to the official account, the discussion never properly began. An argument escalated into a physical altercation, after which Gogoi allegedly drew a licensed .32-bore pistol and opened fire.
Four of the victims were found inside the reception area; two others were discovered on the approach road. Gogoi was arrested within an hour near Basistha police station, and the weapon was recovered. Guwahati Police Commissioner Partha Sarathi Mahanta confirmed that preliminary investigation pointed squarely to a property dispute. A Special Investigation Team headed by Joint Commissioner of Police Ankur Jain was promptly constituted to conduct a thorough probe.
One week later, the case continues to dominate public attention. On Monday, members of the bereaved family, including the mother of the slain, publicly appealed to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for exemplary punishment of the accused and adequate security for the surviving relatives and an injured eyewitness. Intellectuals and citizens from Barpeta, the home district of several victims, gathered to condemn the killings and demand a fast-track trial, arguing that ordinary criminal proceedings would be too slow to deliver the justice the gravity of the crime demands.
Meanwhile, the SIT, assisted by Guwahati Police, brought the accused back to the hotel on Monday to reconstruct the sequence of events. Dummy bodies and a dummy firearm were used to map the positions where the victims fell and the path the shooter took. Investigators are also examining the licensing details of the pistol, which was issued in Nagaland. In a separate administrative development, two members of the original SIT were among seven police officers transferred in recent days, though official confirmation on whether they will continue with the investigation remains unclear.
The incident has left a deep scar on the city’s collective psyche. Hotel Bilas Inn sits barely two kilometres from Assam Police headquarters, in one of Guwahati’s busiest commercial stretches. That a dispute over rent and facilities could culminate in the near-elimination of a family in such a location has raised uncomfortable questions about the efficacy of civil remedies for property conflicts and the ease with which licensed firearms can be turned into instruments of mass violence.
As the reconstruction exercise continues and the family presses for swift and stern justice, the case stands as a grim illustration of how ordinary commercial disagreements, left unresolved, can spiral into irreversible tragedy. The coming weeks will test both the investigative machinery and the justice system’s ability to respond with the urgency and firmness that the public now expects.
This remains one of the most disturbing urban crime stories to emerge from Assam in recent months. A commercial lease dispute that should have been settled in a civil court or through mediation instead exploded into a cold-blooded shooting that wiped out nearly an entire family in the middle of Guwahati. The speed with which the accused was arrested is commendable, yet the lingering demands for a fast-track trial, protection for survivors, and questions over the handling of the investigation show how deeply the incident has shaken public confidence. It is a stark reminder that property disputes, when allowed to fester without effective institutional intervention, can turn lethal with terrifying ease.