The investigation into the death of celebrated singer-musician Zubeen Garg has taken a sharp turn, with Assam Police slapping murder charges against his arrested manager Siddhartha Sharma and North East India Festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta.
According to PTI, the two, who were arrested in Delhi on Wednesday and brought to Guwahati, were initially booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, conspiracy, and negligence, but police have now invoked Section 302 (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Both men were produced before the Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate, who remanded them to 14-day custody.
Garg, 52, died on September 19 in Singapore, where he had travelled to participate in the 60th year of India-Singapore diplomatic relations and the North East India Festival marking the ASEAN Year of Tourism.
Singapore Police say Zubeen died due to drowning
According to The Straits Times, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) shared a copy of the autopsy report and preliminary findings with the Indian High Commission, which has confirmed receiving the documents. Media reports said the report established drowning as the cause of death.
The SPF had earlier ruled out foul play. “In the case of Zubeen Garg, a coroner’s inquiry could possibly shed light on the sequence of events leading up to his drowning,” the paper quoted Ng Kai Ling, associate director at LIMN Law Corporation, as saying.
The 52-year-old singer was at St John’s Island when he reportedly jumped into the water during a yacht trip with friends. He was pulled out unconscious and rushed to Singapore General Hospital but did not survive. Videos circulating online showed him initially wearing a life vest, but according to posts that later went viral, he removed it before entering the water again. The SPF subsequently urged the public not to share images or videos related to his death.
Various reports also noted that Garg’s Singapore-issued death certificate lists drowning as the cause of death.
Zubeen’s wife Garima on the arrest of manager and organiser
Meanwhile, in Assam, Garg’s wife Garima Saikia Garg expressed cautious relief over the arrests. “We are all waiting to know what happened to him in his last moments,” she told reporters in Jorhat, where she was attending the 13th-day rituals of the late singer. “I have full faith in the investigating team and hope they will soon tell us what exactly happened in Singapore.”
The Assam government has constituted a 10-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the circumstances surrounding Garg’s death.
