Guwahati: The Assam government on Saturday transferred seven senior police officers, including three members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the shooting at a Guwahati hotel that left five people dead and one injured.
According to a Home Department notification, the transfers have been ordered with immediate effect across the state. The reshuffle also includes a senior officer posted in Guwahati Central, the police district where the incident took place.
Among those transferred are Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shambhavi Mishra and Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Viku L Achumi. Mishra has been posted as Commandant of the 6th Assam Police Battalion (APBn) at Kathal in Cachar district, while Achumi will serve as Second-in-Command of the 28th APBn at Howly in Barpeta district.
They will be succeeded by Mrinal Deka, Principal of the Lachit Barphukan Police Academy, and Prithwiraj Rajkhowa, Superintendent of Police of Lakhipur co-district, respectively.
The notification, signed by Home and Political Additional Chief Secretary Ajay Tewari, also stated that Pradip Saikia, the incumbent Commandant of the 6th APBn, has been transferred to Assam Police Headquarters as Assistant Inspector General (Administration).
Inspector Kuleshjyoti Bhuyan, Officer-in-Charge of Paltan Bazar police station and a member of the SIT, has been shifted to the Border Branch of Assam Police. His successor has not yet been announced.
Partha Pratim Duwarah, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Panbazar) in Guwahati Central, has also been transferred to the 1st APBn at Ligiripukhuri in Sivasagar. Rishav Phukan, Deputy Superintendent of Police with the 1st Commando Battalion at Mandakata, will replace him.
The transfers come days after the shooting at Hotel Bilas Inn in the Bora Service area of Guwahati’s GS Road, where five members of a family and their staffer were shot following a dispute between the hotel’s owners and its leaseholder over the management of the property.
Police had formed a six-member SIT headed by Guwahati Joint Police Commissioner Ankur Jain to investigate the incident. The team comprised DCP (Crime) Debajit Nath, Mishra, Achumi, Bhuyan and Sub-Inspector Abinash Das of Paltan Bazar police station.
The family of the deceased has alleged that the shooting was premeditated and called for exemplary punishment for those responsible.
The victims were identified as Bhudev Bharali (65), his sister Helena (58), her son Debarshi Kashyap (39), daughter-in-law Rinika Kashyap (30), and family staffer Narayan Das (48). Satyendra Pathak (43), a driver employed by the family, sustained injuries in the incident.
The prime accused, hotel leaseholder Ghanakanta Gogoi (34), was arrested shortly after the shooting. Police recovered a licensed .32-bore pistol allegedly used in the attack. A local court subsequently remanded him to seven days of police custody late on Tuesday night. He is scheduled to be produced before the court again on November 3.
On Saturday, Gogoi’s wife appeared before the police in Dhemaji district. Although no lookout notice had been issued against her, Guwahati Police had been looking for her to question her in connection with the case.
According to a police statement, the Bharali family had signed a five-year lease agreement with Gogoi on September 10, 2025, at a monthly rent of approximately Rs 1.8 lakh.
Disagreements reportedly arose after Gogoi renovated the hotel, with differences emerging over the use of the property and the provision of certain facilities.
A meeting had been scheduled at the hotel on Monday to resolve the dispute. However, police said an argument reportedly escalated into a physical altercation before the meeting could begin, following which Gogoi allegedly opened fire on six people.