Guwahati hotel shooting: Accused's wife surrenders in Dhemaji

The wife of the man accused in the Hotel Bilas Inn shooting in Guwahati surrendered before police in Dhemaji on Saturday morning, October 31, Pratidin Time reported.

Junmoni Gogoi, wife of prime accused Ghanakanta Gogoi, appeared at Dhemaji Sadar police station and did not speak to reporters while surrendering, the channel said. She had left the family's rented home at Saukuchi in Guwahati with their child on the night of the shooting.

The case so far

Five people were killed and one was injured in the shooting at Hotel Bilas Inn in Guwahati's Bora Service area at around 9 pm on Monday, October 26. Ghanakanta Gogoi was arrested by Basistha police about an hour later. A court granted police seven days' custody, and he is being questioned at Latasil police station.

Police have formed a six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Joint Commissioner of Police Ankur Jain. Reports have linked the shooting to a dispute over the lease of the hotel. The accused and his family have claimed he fired in self-defence; police have not accepted that account publicly, and it is for the investigation and the courts to test.

Why the SIT wants to question her

On Friday, The Sentinel reported that police had traced Junmoni Gogoi to Dibrugarh after a three-day search and that the SIT planned to summon her. Citing sources, the paper said she had taken the keys to her husband's car before leaving the Saukuchi house, and that police had not been able to recover his licensed pistol from the rented accommodation. Investigators are expected to ask whether she knows where the weapon is.

Earlier reports, also citing sources, said the accused phoned his wife soon after the shooting and told her to leave home with their child. Junmoni Gogoi told another outlet on Friday that her husband had acted in self-defence. She is not an accused in the case, and police have not said whether she will be treated as a witness.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said earlier this week that the state needed to understand how the accused's gun licence had been issued from Nagaland, India Today NE reported. Police have not issued a formal statement on Saturday's surrender. NEInsider will update this story when the SIT shares details.