Guwahati, October 15: Five individuals arrested in connection with the death of singer Zubeen Garg in Singapore last month have been remanded to judicial custody following the completion of their police remand on Wednesday. The accused include North East India Festival (NEIF) chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, Zubeen’s manager Siddhartha Sharma, his cousin and Assam Police officer Sandipan Garg, and the singer’s personal security officers Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya.
The Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate, while remanding them, expressed concern for their safety and directed that they be sent to a jail with fewer inmates. Consequently, the authorities shifted all five to the recently inaugurated Baksa Jail at Mussalpur, which currently has no prisoners.
Mahanta and Sharma were initially arrested on 1 October in Delhi and charged under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy, and causing death by negligence, with murder charges added later. They had been in police custody for 14 days. Sandipan Garg, Zubeen’s cousin and DSP in Kamrup, was arrested on 8 October and initially remanded for seven days. The singer’s PSOs were taken into custody on 10 October for five days.
Two additional individuals, band members Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and singer Amritprava Mahanta, were arrested on 3 October and remanded to 14-day police custody.
The Assam CID has launched a separate investigation into Mahanta for alleged financial crimes, including money laundering and acquisition of benami properties. Following Zubeen Garg’s death by drowning on 19 September in Singapore, the Assam government formed a 10-member SIT to probe the incident. Over 60 FIRs were filed across the state against Mahanta, Sharma, and others, which were later consolidated under the CID for a comprehensive investigation, as directed by the Chief Minister.
