Guwahat: More than ten days after the death of renowned Assamese singer Zubeen Garg in Singapore, Assam Police on Wednesday arrested his manager Siddhartha Sharma and North East India Festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta in connection with the case. Both were brought to Guwahati the same morning, a senior police official confirmed.
The Assam CID had earlier issued summons to Sharma and Mahanta, the prime accused in the case, directing them to appear before investigators on October 6. Neither had returned to Assam since Garg’s death on September 19. Mahanta was arrested at Delhi airport upon his arrival from Singapore, while Sharma was taken into custody in Gurgaon.
Garg, 52, had travelled to Singapore to attend the North East India Festival. He reportedly lost consciousness while swimming during a yacht outing and was rushed to Singapore General Hospital, where he was declared dead. Death certificates issued by Singaporean authorities listed the cause of death as “drowning.”
Following multiple complaints across Assam alleging negligence and mismanagement, the CID registered a consolidated case against Sharma, Mahanta, and others. They face charges under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and causing death by negligence.
Amid widespread public outrage, both Mahanta and Sharma had earlier issued statements claiming they were avoiding their return to Assam due to concerns for their personal safety.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs formally sought assistance from the Singapore government under the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement between India and Singapore to aid in the investigation.