Two fugitive prime accused in the investigation into singer Zubeen Garg’s death were arrested before dawn on October 1 and sent to police custody for 14 days. North East India Festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta was detained by immigration officers at New Delhi airport around 12.30 a.m. after arriving from Singapore, on the basis of an Interpol lookout notice. He was handed over to the Assam police. An hour later, Zubeen’s manager, Siddharth Sharma, was caught near the Delhi-Haryana border in Gurgaon.
Both were flown to Guwahati, produced before the chief judicial magistrate at the judge’s residence due to Durga Puja court closure, and remanded to police custody for 14 days. Security was tightened at the Guwahati airport, along the convoy route, and at the magistrate’s residence. Mahanta and Sharma were in handcuffs.
The Assam police’s SIT has charged the duo with conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and causing death by negligence. The mobile phones of the two arrested were seized along with Zubeen Garg’s cell phone which was with his manager.
Over 60 FIRs have been filed, 55 of them naming four men viz. Mahanta, Sharma, drummer Shekharjyoti Goswami, and businessman Sanjive Narain.
The SIT has interrogated Shekharjyoti Goswami, the singer’s cousin and police officer Sandipon Garg, actress Nishita Goswami, and singer-actress Amritprabha, all of whom were in Singapore at the time Zubeen died by drowning on September 19. Interpol lookout notices had been circulated for Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddharth Sharma.