Guwahati: Award-winning author Rita Chowdhury, editor of Gariyoshi and a close friend of Zubeen Garg, emerged visibly shaken Tuesday after nearly three hours of questioning by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Assam Police probing the singer’s mysterious death in Singapore.
The SIT’s focus: a podcast Chowdhury recorded with Garg just 48 hours before he left for the city-state—his last public conversation. “They wanted my analysis of his words, his mood, the mystery surrounding his death,” she told waiting reporters.
In the podcast, Garg had been electric—laughing about delays in his film Roi Roi Binale, teasing Chowdhury with a cameo role, even joking about his half-built Kharghuli dream home. “He said, ‘If you want to torture someone, make them build a house,’” Chowdhury recalled, a faint smile breaking through. “That home was his soul. He was passionate, upbeat—not a trace of anguish.”
Yet days later, Garg was gone. The news shattered Assam. Chowdhury, grieving, posted a public appeal to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma: lift the SOP restricting entry to Zubeen Kshetra, the singer’s cremation ground. “I wrote as a citizen, not a politician,” she said. “A mature leader should listen. If he doesn’t, I’ve done my part.”
She wished she’d stopped him from flying. “Had I known, I would’ve begged him not to go to Singapore.”
Misinformation soon swirled—claims she fled to Patna callously after the tragedy. “I was broken,” Chowdhury countered. “My family forced me to leave for a night, thinking distance might ease the pain. I booked the last flight. The media twisted it into escape.”
Now, she pleads for restraint. “This is sacred grief. Let’s honour Zubeen with dignity, not distortion.”
Meanwhile, North East India Festival organiser Syamkanu Mahanta, Zubeen Garg’s manager Sidhartha Sharma, cousin Sandipan Garg, and the singer’s two personal security officers—Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya—were remanded to another 14-day judicial custody by the CJM court. Moments ago, after completing their previous term, they appeared via video conferencing from Baksa District Jail in Nikasi, where they remain lodged.
Separately, accused Amritprabha Mahanta and Sekhar Jyoti Goswami were also granted 14-day judicial custody following their virtual appearance before the court. They are being held at Haflong Jail.
