The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the death of Assam superstarZubeenGarg will submit its chargesheet on December 12, the officer heading it said on Saturday.
Garg had died nearly three months ago on September 19, while in Singapore as a cultural brand ambassador for the North East India Festival, Singapore. Before the festival began, on September 19, he went on a yacht outing, which he was reportedly taken on by members of the Assam Association Singapore, and lost consciousness while he was swimming during that outing.
The Assam Police SIT is investigating a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) case filed in connection withZubeen’s death under charges of criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and causing death by negligence, to which murder charges were added as well.
Seven people have since been arrested in connection with this case, the first of which were the festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta and Garg’s manager Siddhartha Sharma.
Three people who had accompanied him to Singapore — his cousin and Assam Police Service officer Sandipan Garg, and his bandmates Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta — have also been arrested, along with his two Personal Security Officers (PSOs) Paresh Baishya and Nandeswar Bora.
“We are at the final stage of the investigation. We will submit the chargesheet before the court on December 12. You know that we had arrested seven people. We have taken statements from over 300 people so far. Once the chargesheet is submitted, everything will become clear,” said CID Special DGP and SIT head Munna Prasad Gupta on Saturday.
The issue ofZubeen’s death and the investigation into it has been raised both during the ongoing Lok Sabha session and the recently concluded winter session of the Assam Legislative Assembly.
Story continues below this ad
In the Assembly, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma — who has made several public statements callingZubeen’s death a murder — declared that “one (of the arrested) has killed him and the others assisted”.
In the meantime, the police in Singapore, which is where the death had occurred, is carrying on its own investigation. It had stated that its preliminary investigation did not suggest “foul play”.
