Zubeen Garg death: SIT to visit Singapore after getting permission, say Assam police
Four Assamese NRIs based in Singapore, present at the yacht party when Garg died, have arrived in Guwahati to record their statements related to the incident
GUWAHATI: The special investigation team (SIT) of Assam police’s criminal investigation department (CID), which is probing the death of singer Zubeen Garg in Singapore last month, said that it will submit its report before court within 90 days and that its team would visit the Southeast Asian country in connection with the case as soon as it receives permission from the authorities there.
“We will complete our investigation within the time limit and submit our report before the court. All efforts are on to complete the probe at the earliest and we are working day and night to take it to a logical conclusion,” special DGP (CID) and head of the 10-member SIT, MP Gupta, said.
Following the death of Garg while swimming in sea on September 19, the CID of Assam Police had registered a case of murder, criminal conspiracy, and death due to negligence.
Gupta said that four Assamese NRIs based in Singapore, who were present at the yacht party when Garg died, have already arrived in Guwahati to record their statements related to the incident and others who are yet to come will do so within the next few days.
The yacht party was arranged by some Assamese NRIs and 8 of them were present when Garg died. The SIT had earlier issued summons to them and 3 other NRIs who were not present at the scene to come to Assam and help with the investigation into the case.
Gupta said that under provision of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between India and Singapore, a request has already been sent to authorities there on September 30 through the Indian high commission to allow a team of Assam Police to visit that country and conduct investigation related to the case.
“We are actively pursuing the request and hope to get it soon. As soon as the Singapore authorities give us that permission our team will go there. We have also requested them to share some details related to the case and we are hopeful of getting them soon,” he said.
“The Singapore authorities are also conducting a separate probe related to the case and they have asked us to share some information, which we have already sent to them. Both probes are going on simultaneously. We will know details about their investigation only after it ends,” Gupta added. He refused to share details of statements made by the accused till date.
Gupta said that the final report of the postmortem conducted at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) and the test of Garg’s viscera samples done at Delhi-based Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL) have been received and it will be presented in court and not made public.
“Postmortem report is not a public document, it will be submitted to court. There’s a fake report circulating that it will be made public at 4 pm on Tuesday. It’s not correct,”
Following Garg’s death, Singapore authorities had conducted a postmortem before the body was sent to Guwahati on September 22. The death certificate issued there had stated drowning as the cause of death.
Due to demands in Assam, a second postmortem was done at GMCH on September 23 to rule out foul play. The CID had added the charges of murder following arrests of the accused and after their statements were recorded.
Garg had gone to Singapore to take part in the North East India Festival (NEIF), an annual event showcasing the region’s culture. During his stay there, he undertook a yacht party organised by a few Assamese NRIs in Singapore. It is while swimming in sea during the party that he collapsed and later was declared dead in a hospital.
Following Garg’s death, the CID has arrested seven persons till date. They are Shyamkanu Mahanta, organiser of the North East India Festival (NEIF), the singer’s manager Siddharth Sharma, bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and singer Amritprava Mahanta and Garg’s cousin, Sandipan Garg, who is also an Assam Police Service (APS) officer.
The CID is also probing a case of financial irregularities allegedly committed by Mahanta. After days of questioning, the agency also arrested two of Garg’s PSOs, Paresh Baishya and Nandeswar Bora, (both not present in Singapore at the time of Garg’s death) for alleged mishandling of the singer’s money, which was in their bank accounts.
On Sunday, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the report of the viscera samples of Garg has given a specific direction to the probe into his death.
“Following submission of the report of viscera sample tests by CFSL, Delhi to Assam Police on Friday, a specific direction has emerged in the investigation into Zubeen’s death,” Sarma said during a Facebook Live.
“I believe, within a few days the entire chronology of events related to the death would be submitted in court. We are a lot more confident now that the pace of investigation into the case is going in an expected direction,” he added.
