In a major development in the probe into singer Zubeen Garg’s death, police have arrested his manager Siddhartha Sharma and festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta.
Sharma was arrested from an apartment in Gurugram, while Mahanta was detained at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport upon his arrival from Singapore. Both have been taken into custody and brought to Guwahati early Wednesday morning.
Garg tragically died on September 19 in Singapore, reportedly by drowning in the sea while swimming without a life jacket. He was in the country to perform at a cultural festival.
The Assam government had set up a 10-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by Special DGP M P Gupta, to probe the circumstances surrounding his death. Notices were earlier served to Sharma, Mahanta, members of the Singapore Assam Association, and others who were present at the festival, asking them to record their statements.
The arrests come after weeks of public anger. Earlier, enraged fans attacked Sharma’s house in Guwahati and clashed with police. Another musician, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, a long-time bandmate of Garg who reportedly accompanied him on the yacht trip before the drowning incident, was also detained by police.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier issued an ultimatum, directing Sharma and Mahanta to appear before investigators by October 6, after the Durga Puja celebrations. He stated that while Singapore’s hospital records cite drowning as the cause of death, a postmortem report would reveal further details.
