Five killed in shooting at Guwahati hotel over lease dispute, police say

Five people were killed and one person was critically injured after a shooting at a hotel in Guwahati, Assam, on Monday evening, police said.

The shooting took place at Hotel Bilas Inn in the city’s Bora Service area at around 9 p.m., Guwahati Police Commissioner Partha Sarathi Mahanta told reporters and news agency PTI. Six people sustained gunshot wounds; five later died and one person remains under treatment.

Police said the shooting followed a dispute between the hotel’s owner and the man who had taken the property on lease, and that the leaseholder himself opened fire. The accused, identified by police as Ghanakanta Gogoi, was arrested within an hour of the incident, and the licensed .32-bore pistol used in the attack was seized, Mahanta said.

Four of the five people killed belonged to the same family, while the fifth was from their village, police said, according to ANI. The injured person was taken to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for treatment.

The Assam Congress criticised the state government over law and order in Guwahati following the shooting, saying the incident raised serious questions about public safety.

Sources: NDTV, India TV, Times Now, DY365, ANI via Daily Jagran