Singer Zubeen Garg, 52, died after drowning in the sea in Singapore on September 19, where he had gone to perform at the North East India Festival.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday announced that India is taking assistance from Singapore in the investigation. He said a special investigation team (SIT) from Assam will travel to Singapore to probe the case.
The Assam government has formed a 10-member SIT headed by Special DGP MP Gupta. Sarma said event organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta will be taken into custody in two days, and Garg’s manager, Siddartha Sarma, is also being tracked.
The Chief Minister said they had asked the Centre to invoke the mutual legal assistance treaty with Singapore and that the proposal had been forwarded to Singapore. He added that their SIT team would go to Singapore and that they expected significant developments within the next two to three days to arrest event organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta. He also said they had been able to track Siddartha Sarma and warned that if Sarma did not surrender within the stipulated time, they would apprehend him.
Assam DGP Harmeet Singh confirmed that one team was already in Delhi and that two SIT officials would leave for Singapore. He explained that India had the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Singapore, with documents being processed through the Ministry of Home Affairs, and noted that the procedure had already begun.
Singh urged the public to continue trusting the police, pointing out that people had shown faith in the Assam Police over the past week and assuring them that the force would reach a conclusion if allowed to do its work with full support.
He further added that the investigation would be carried out with complete transparency, in line with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s instructions and Indian law, and that it would follow proper scientific methods.