Police have taken into custody North East India Festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta and Zubeen Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma in connection with the celebrated singer’s death in Singapore last month.
Mahanta, who was detained in Singapore, was first brought to Delhi before being flown to Guwahati amid heightened security. Sharma, an aide and manager of Zubeen Garg, was detained in Gurugram and flown to Delhi, police said. He will also be taken to Guwahati, police sources said.
Lookout notices through the Interpol had been issued against the two last week. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that both Mahanta and Sharma must appear in Guwahati on October 6 to record their statements before the probe team.
The Assam government has constituted a 10-member special investigation team (SIT), headed by Special DGP MP Gupta, to probe Garg’s death. The SIT had earlier searched Sharma’s home in Guwahati and seized several documents.
Zubeen Garg, 52, one of Assam’s most beloved singers, died on September 19 after reportedly drowning at Singapore’s Lazarus Island. He had travelled to the city-state to perform at the North East India Festival, which was later cancelled following his death.
Garg was cremated with full state honours in Assam’s Kamrup district on September 23, with lakhs of fans turning up to bid him a final farewell.
Initial reports suggested the singer died in a scuba diving incident. However, Garg’s wife, Garima Saikia, said he suffered a seizure while swimming, dismissing claims of a scuba diving mishap.
The Singapore authorities listed drowning as the cause of death in their autopsy, though a second post-mortem was conducted in Assam after widespread protests and allegations of foul play.
The Union government has invoked the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Singapore to aid the probe.
“Two Assam Police officers are already in Singapore to seek assistance from the authorities concerned,” Sarma said on Monday.
The circumstances around Garg’s death have triggered grief across Assam, with fans demanding answers and transparency in the investigation.
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