Zubeen Garg's death: Assam SIT raids homes of singer's manager, event organiser; stone pelting at police vehicles

A 10-member special investigating team, led by Special DGP MP Gupta, was formed by the Assam government to probe singer Zubeen Garg's death.

Days after the death of famous singer Zubeen Garg, the Assam police's special investigating team (SIT) on Thursday carried out separate raids at the residences of his manager Siddhartha Sharma and the organiser of the Northeast India Festival (NEIF) Shyamkanu Mahanta.

Singer Zubeen Garg, who had gone to Singapore for the Northeast India Festival, had died on September 19 during a scuba diving activity. (PTI)

Zubeen Garg, who rose to fame with the 2006 Gangster film's Ya Ali song, died in a swimming incident in Singapore last week. He was cremated with full state honours in Assam's Kamrup district on Tuesday.

The Assam government constituted a 10-member SIT, led by Special DGP MP Gupta, to investigate Garg's death.

An SIT team visited Sharma's apartment in the Dhirenpara area and found it locked. Officials then broke the lock in the presence of a magistrate and conducted the search operation, news agency PTI reported.

Meanwhile, protestors hurled stones at police vehicles outside Siddhartha Sharma's house, following which the security personnel resorted to baton charge.

According to residents of the building, the mother, brother and sister of Garg's manager also lived in the apartment, but there were not seen since the singer's death.

Another team went to Mahanta's Geetanagar residence, where none of his family members were present, except for two helpers.

Assam might recommend CBI enquiry

Earlier in the day, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state government would recommend a CBI enquiry into Garg's death if at any stage the SIT's probe is found to be "unsatisfactory".

He appealed to the public to have faith in the investigation and refrain from circulating rumours on social media, which Sarma said could hamper the probe.

"Our stand is clear that we will uncover the truth of what happened that day by all possible means, and we will not compromise in this matter in any way," he said.

Sarma said that the SIT will also question those who accompanied Zubeen Garg to Singapore, including members of the Assam Association there and the organisers of the NEIF.

The CM said that when Shyamkanu Mahanta returns to Assam, he will be summoned and interrogated.

"We all love Zubeen equally, so let us allow the investigation to move forward in a steady, disciplined and transparent manner. We must remain alert and cautious against rumours and false information, as this will only divert the main issue of finding what exactly had happened," Sarma said.

Zubeen Garg, who died during a scuba diving activity in Singapore on September 19, had gone to the Southeast Asian country for the Northeast India Festival. An autopsy was conducted in Singapore, following which Garg's mortal remains were flown to India.

However, a second post-mortem was also conducted at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital in Assam to rule out any foul play in Garg's death. Autopsy report confirmed the cause of the singer's death as drowning.