Zubeen Garg’s cousin, Assam Police officer, suspended after arrest in singer’s death case

A police officer and a close family member of Zubeen Garg were detained by the Assam police criminal investigation department’s (CID) special investigation team (SIT) on Wednesday in relation to the cultural icon’s death in a swimming accident in Singapore last month. Garg’s cousin, Sandipan Garg, is a member of the Assam Police Service (APS) and is presently assigned to the Kamrup district as the deputy superintendent of law and order. After his arrest, the Assam government immediately suspended him from duty. He had traveled to Singapore with Garg and was there when the 52-year-old singer, musician, poet, actor, and filmmaker passed away on September 19 while swimming in the ocean.

“Today we arrested Sandipan following his interrogation. Since an investigation is underway, I can’t reveal more than that,” special DGP (CID) Assam Police, MP Gupta, who is heading the 10-member SIT, said.

Earlier the CID had arrested Shyamkanu Mahanta, organiser of the North East India Festival (NEIF) in Singapore, which Garg had gone to attend, the singer’s manager Siddharth Sharma, bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and singer Amritprava Mahanta in connection with the case. All four are in CID custody at present.

“Sandipan was called by them (CID) for questioning following which he was arrested. Maybe they have got some clue in his statements. The investigation process is on and it is taking its own course, I can’t comment anything on it,” Zubeen Garg’s wife, Garrima Saikia Garg, commented in response to Sandipan’s arrest.

This is the case’s fifth arrest. Prior to making the decision to arrest Sandipan, CID had interrogated him for four days. Garg’s paternal uncle is the father of Sandipan. After being arrested, he was taken to the Kamrup (Metropolitan) district’s chief judicial magistrate’s court and placed under seven days of police custody remand. The CID had filed a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy, and death due to carelessness when Garg died while attending a yacht party hosted by a few Assamese NRIs in Singapore under strange circumstances.

After questioning the four people who had been arrested earlier, the CID later added a murder charge as well. Following the discovery of several seals and other incriminating documents at Mahanta’s Guwahati home, the CID also filed a second case against him for alleged financial irregularities.

MP Gupta, Special DGP (CID) Assam Police, announced on Wednesday that ten Assamese non-resident Indians (NRIs) residing in Singapore would receive new summonses. Eleven NRIs who are members of the Assam Association in Singapore were previously given notice by the CID to come before it by October 6 in order to provide statements pertaining to the case. The yacht party Garg had attended before drowning was attended by eight NRIs from Assam.

Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday that central agencies like enforcement directorate (ED) and income tax (IT) department would investigate allegations of financial irregularities against festival organiser, Shyamkanu Mahanta.