Prime Accused Ghanakanta Gogoi Killed in Early Morning Police Encounter
Ghanakanta Gogoi, the primary accused in the execution-style shooting of five family members at Hotel Bilas Inn in Guwahati, was shot dead in a police encounter in Assam’s Sivasagar district during the early hours of Wednesday, November 4, 2026. The exchange of fire took place around 3:10 AM at Phulpanichiga near Rongman Dhaba, falling under the jurisdiction of the Gaurisagar police station. Gogoi, who had been taken into custody and was being transported by a Sivasagar police escort team from Guwahati, reportedly attempted a violent custodial escape after halting the vehicle, triggering an emergency retaliatory response that ended in his death and left a senior police officer hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
Daring Custodial Escape Bid: How the Midnight Gunfight Unfolded on NH-37
According to Sivasagar Superintendent of Police Papori Chetia, the police escort was bringing Gogoi to the district following a production warrant granted by a Guwahati court in connection with a pending Punjab National Bank financial fraud investigation. During the journey, Gogoi requested the escort convoy to pull over under the pretext of answering nature’s call. Once outside the patrol vehicle, he violently attacked the personnel and engaged in a fierce physical scuffle to snatch an officer's service revolver. Three rounds were discharged from the snatched sidearm during the grapple, critically injuring Sivasagar Town Police Sub-Inspector Debashish Sharma. Facing an imminent lethal threat and preventing the escape of an armed murder suspect, the Personal Security Officer (PSO) attached to the Sivasagar Sadar police station in-charge opened fire in self-defense, neutralizing Gogoi on the spot. Sub-Inspector Sharma was evacuated immediately to the Sivasagar Civil Hospital, where medical teams are treating his gunshot trauma.
The Hotel Bilas Inn Bloodbath: Financial Feud and the Dimapur Arms Trail
The fatal encounter marks the dramatic end of the investigation into the October 26 shooting at Guwahati’s Hotel Bilas Inn that shocked the state. Police probes revealed that the deadly confrontation was triggered by an escalating dispute between Gogoi and the establishment’s ownership over property renovation invoices and operational management rights. A settlement discussion convened on October 26 to reconcile the accounts turned hostile, during which Gogoi pulled out a weapon and gunned down five members of the family: hotel owner Helena Bharali (58), her elder brother Bhudev Bharali (65), her son Debarshi Kashyap (39), daughter-in-law Rinika Kashyap (30), and family relative Narayan Das (48). The family driver, Satyendra Pathak, was critically wounded in the assault and continues to undergo intensive medical care at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). Ballistic records confirmed that the firearm deployed in the massacre was a .32 bore pistol purchased alongside 40 rounds of live ammunition from the Swasti Gun House in Dimapur on October 16, 2024, valued at approximately ₹3 lakh.
