Tezpur/Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated Monday that cultural icon Zubeen Garg was murdered in Singapore, announcing that a chargesheet in the case would be filed by December 8 as investigations continue.
The celebrated singer died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore September 19 while swimming in the sea. He had gone to the Southeast Asian nation to attend the 4th edition of the North East India Festival (NEIF).
“I am not terming it an accident. I have set a target to submit the chargesheet by December 8. We are ready now,” Sarma told reporters here.
He, however, did not share further details of the case or the kind of evidence that establishes the death as murder.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Assam Police is currently probing Garg’s death case after more than 60 FIRs were lodged across the state.
Speaking about the process of filing the charge-sheet, Sarma said, “If any incident takes place abroad, an approval is required from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Yesterday, I met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to get an approval soon.”
He said the SIT is likely to write to the MHA within the next three to four days, seeking necessary approval.
“Then, we will file the charge-sheet,” the CM said.
When asked if the Assam government has released any funds to the NEIF, Sarma replied in the negative.
Later, in Guwahati in the evening, Sarma emphasised that the entire investigation started considering the untimely death of Garg as “murder” from the first day itself.
“It is not a new revelation from me… Assam Police’s accusation was that this was a murder. Today, people are in judicial custody. Everyone is being forwarded in a case of murder. This is the position from day one,” he added.
A total of seven people were arrested and are now in judicial custody. They were booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy and causing death by negligence.
Further explaining the process of filing the charge-sheet, Sarma said, “The police are duty-bound to submit a charge-sheet within 90 days from the day of arrest if it is a case of murder or life imprisonment, as well as other serious penalties. So, our time was 90 days from the day the first arrest was made.”
“But to be on the safer side, we took 90 days from the date of the incident, as per which, we should submit the chargesheet December 18 or 19. But we want to be a little more cautious. That is why we have internally decided that we will file the charge-sheet around December 8,” he said.
NEIF chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, the singer’s manager Siddharth Sharma, and his two band members — Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amrit Prabha Mahanta — were apprehended.
Later, Garg’s cousin and Assam Police DSP Sandipan Garg was arrested in connection with the singer’s death in Singapore last month.
Zubeen Garg’s PSOs Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya were also arrested after police found huge financial transactions, worth over Rs 1.1 crore, from their accounts.
Singapore Police Force (SPF) is also carrying out an independent investigation into the incident of Garg’s alleged drowning in sea.
In a statement October 17, the SPF said that the preliminary investigations have not indicated any foul play in Garg’s death.
It also said that investigations into the death of the popular Indian singer-songwriter-composer may take up to another three months, after which the findings will be submitted to the State Coroner for further proceedings.
