The Assam police’s Special Investigation Team on October 2 held Zubeen Garg’s drummer, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, and actress Amritprabha Mahanta in connection with the music icon’s sudden death in Singapore last month. They were taken into custody after a four-day interrogation. With this, the total number of arrests in the case has gone up to four. On October 1, the SIT had arrested Zubeen’s manager, Siddharth Sharma, and event organiser, Shyamkanu Mahanta. Murder charges against Siddharth Sharma and Shyamkanu Mahanta were brought by the cops the following day. The duo was earlier charged with criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing death by negligence.
Shyamkanu Mahanta was the organiser of the North East India Festival in Singapore where Zubeen was slated to perform on September 20. The 52-year-old drowned a day earlier while swimming in the sea.
Shyamkanu was held at Delhi airport early October 1 after he landed from Singapore. Soon thereafter, Siddharth Sharma was caught near the Delhi-Haryana border in Gurgaon. Assam CID Special DG M.P. Gupta, who heads the SIT, said that a mobile phone of Zubeen, which was with Siddharth, was seized along with their own cell phones and other items, and these were being examined.
Earlier, a second post mortem had been conducted in Guwahati (Assam) on September 23. The viscera samples had been sent to the Central Forensic Laboratory in Delhi, and the report was awaited.
The SIT also interrogated Assam police officer Sandipon Garg (Zubeen’s cousin), actress Nishita Goswami and local TV channel owner Sanjive Narain. All the three were present in Singapore at the time of Zubeen’s death on September 19.
At the thirteenth day rituals of Zubeen on October 1, his wife, Garima, had urged the police to interrogate the suspects. Garima had alleged that Shyamkanu failed to provide support for Garg in Singapore. She claimed that Siddharth Sharma bore “complete responsibility” as he failed to stop Zubeen from swimming when he was exhausted.