A fast-track court in Guwahati has framed murder charges against four persons in the death case of iconic singer Zubeen Garg. This is in spite of the Singapore coroner ruling out foul play. Three other accused have been booked under sections relating to extortion, cheating, destruction of evidence, and criminal breach of trust.
Among those charged for murder are festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta (extortion, cheating, and evidence tampering), manager Siddharth Sharma and producer Shekhar Jyoti Goswami (criminal breach of trust), and singer Amritprabha Mahanta (destruction of evidence). Zubeen Garg’s cousin, Sandipan Garg, has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, while two of Garg’s personal security officers, Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya, face charges under separate sections including criminal breach of trust.
The court of district and sessions judge Sharmila Bhuyan framed charges under 10 sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) after hearing arguments. Special public prosecutor Ziaul Kamar said, the trial in the case will begin on June 8.
It may be recalled here that the Singapore Police Force (SPF) officially closed its investigation in the singer’s death case late March under the Singapore Coroners Act, 2010. The SPF concluded that post-mortem findings, including toxicology analysis, were consistent with accidental drowning.
Zubeen died on September 19, 2025 in Singapore by drowning, leading to nationwide shock and unprecedented state mourning in Assam. The Assam Criminal Investigation Department (CID) led a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the prolific artiste’s death in September 2025 itself, filing a chargesheet spanning 1,200 pages in December last year.