Assam Govt Orders Judicial Inquiry Into Singer Zubeen Garg’s Mysterious Death

Guwahati: The Assam government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the mysterious death of singer and cultural icon Zubeen Garg, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Friday.

The inquiry will be conducted by a judicial commission headed by Justice Soumitra Saikia of the Gauhati High Court and will examine the circumstances that led to the artist’s untimely demise.

Zubeen Garg died on September 19 while swimming in the sea in Singapore. He had travelled to the country to attend the fourth edition of the North East India Festival, an event organised by cultural entrepreneur Shyamkanu Mahanta and his company. His sudden passing shocked the state and triggered widespread demands for a transparent probe into the incident.

Prior to ordering the judicial inquiry, the Chief Minister had constituted a 10-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Special DGP M. P. Gupta to look into the case. The SIT has been carrying out investigations for the past weeks and has already made arrests in connection with the case.

Four people linked to Garg’s Singapore visit and the festival were taken into custody. They include festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, the singer’s manager Siddhartha Sharma, musician Shekharjyoti Goswami and singer Amritprabha Mahanta. Charges of culpable homicide, criminal conspiracy and negligence were initially brought against them, with the SIT later adding murder charges against two of the accused.