Ghanakanta Gogoi, accused of shooting five people dead at Hotel Bilas Inn in Guwahati, was killed in a police encounter early Wednesday.
The encounter took place at around 3:10 am at Phulpanichiga, near Rongmon Dhaba, while police were bringing Gogoi from Guwahati to Sivasagar.
According to preliminary reports, Gogoi allegedly attacked the police personnel and attempted to escape from custody. Police opened fire, leaving him critically injured.
Gogoi, 34, sustained a bullet injury to his body and subsequently died.
Sivasagar Town Police Sub-Inspector Debashish Sharma was also injured in the incident.
Gogoi was arrested by Sivasagar police in a 2024 bank fraud case on Tuesday, hours after a court in Guwahati remanded him to judicial custody following the completion of seven days of police remand in the hotel firing case.
"He was a trained shooter and an experienced person with different weapons," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Papori Chetia said. "When he alighted from the police vehicle to relieve himself, he tried to snatch the service weapon of our investigating officer. There was a fight with the accused, and our officer was badly injured. To save our officer, the PSO of the Sivasagar Sadar Police Station officer-in-charge had to fire."
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Gogoi sustained a bullet injury and was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead, the SSP said.
"He had a bullet injury near his heart. He was brought dead," the doctor said.
The injured police officer is undergoing treatment at a local hospital, Chetia said.
"Gogoi was a criminal-minded person. He was a threat to our officers. For defence, the personal security officer had to shoot," the SSP added.
Gogoi's lawyer had earlier raised "encounter" fears over his safety while he was in police custody. The court subsequently directed the police to ensure safeguards and laid down conditions for the seven-day police custody.
The court had issued directions on evidence recovery, security and medical examinations, while prohibiting custodial torture and directing police to provide basic necessities.
The case was filed by the then Punjab National Bank Manager Debabrat Buragohain in 2024 at Sivasagar police station.
"The case was already under investigation and arrest of the accused was pending. We were looking for him. Last night, we took him in custody and he was being brought to Sivasagar," Chetia added.
Five people, including four from a business family, were killed and another person was injured in the firing incident at Hotel Bilas Inn in Bora Service area of Guwahati on October 26. The shooting stemmed from an alleged dispute between the owners of the property and its leaseholder, Gogoi, over the management of the hotel.
Gogoi, the leaseholder, had been arrested soon after the incident, and a licenced .32-bore pistol allegedly used in the crime had been seized from his possession.
The victims were identified as Bhudev Bharali (65), his sister Helena (58), her son Debarshi Kashyap (39) and daughter-in-law Rinika Kashyap (30), and family staffer Narayan Das (48).
A driver of the Bharali family, Satyendra Pathak (43), was also injured in the shooting.
