Guwahati, October 1: In a major breakthrough, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Assam Police, with support from Singapore Police, has arrested prime accused Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddhartha Sharma in connection with the death of iconic Assamese singer Zubeen Garg.
Mahanta, chief organiser of the Northeast Festival, was apprehended in Singapore and flown back to Delhi on an Air India flight on Tuesday, while Sharma, the late singer’s manager, was arrested in Rajasthan. Both were subsequently brought to Guwahati and taken to the CID headquarters under heavy security for interrogation by the SIT, officials confirmed.
The two have been booked under Sections 61(2), 105, and 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. Their arrests come after the SIT issued summons directing them to join the probe within ten days, following which raids were conducted at their residences.
Mahanta’s family background adds weight to the development — he is the younger brother of former DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta and Nani Gopal Mahanta, former education advisor to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and current Vice Chancellor of Gauhati University.
The arrests follow a formal complaint lodged by Zubeen Garg’s wife, Garima Saikia Garg, his sister-in-law Palme Barthakur, and a family uncle. The complaint named Mahanta, Sharma, and others who were present during Garg’s final trip to Singapore, demanding a thorough probe into the circumstances leading to his death.
