The Assamese entertainment circuit is used to plot twists, but Monday night delivered one that no screenwriter would dare pitch. At 9 pm, Hotel Bilas Inn became the backdrop of a horror that unfolded in real time, Ghanakanta Gogoi allegedly opened fire and killed five people. By around 10 pm, Basistha police had arrested him. Within hours, the story had moved from crime scene to courtroom-and the second act is as tense as any legal thriller.
The victims were Bhudeb Bharali (65), Helena Bharali (58), Devarshi Kashyap (39), Rinika Kashyap (30) and Narayan Das (48). Bhudeb Bharali and Narayan Das were from Barpeta; Helena Bharali, Devarshi Kashyap and Rinika Kashyap were residents of Nabin Nagar, Guwahati. Satyendra Pathak (43), also from Barpeta, was injured in the firing and is being treated at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital. Last night, the funerals of the five victims were completed in their native village in Barpeta. No cinematic flourish can soften that sentence.
On Tuesday, the court sent Gogoi to seven days of police custody, though the police had sought ten. His lawyer moved court over the accused’s safety, with the fear of an encounter hanging in the air. The court’s response was sharp and specific: during interrogation or when the accused is taken out for information recovery, no officer below DSP rank can be present. After sunset and before sunrise, adequate police security must be arranged. The accused cannot be subjected to any form of torture. He must be given clean food, water and all basic necessities while in custody. The investigating officers were directed to follow the Supreme Court’s guidelines in D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal.
The court also issued a stern warning to the police: if the accused escapes from custody, the DCP will be held responsible. In Guwahati’s corridors, where whispers travel faster than a Friday release, the legal wrangling has become the city’s most uncomfortable spectacle-part crime report, part courtroom drama, and entirely real.
As someone who spends her days tracking make-believe, I can tell you this: the real-life second act is more gripping than any script. But it is also a sobering reminder that behind every headline are five lives, an injured survivor, and families in Barpeta and Nabin Nagar who are living a tragedy no interval can pause. The city’s chatter may move on. The court records will not. And for an industry that loves a climax, this story insists on something harder: accountability.
