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Sitting HC judge-led judicial commission to probe Zubeen Garg’s death: Himanta
The Gauhati High Court has approved the constitution of a judicial commission headed by justice Soumitra Saikia to probe Zubeen Garg’s death
GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said the Gauhati High Court has approved the constitution of a judicial commission headed by a sitting judge to probe the death of the state’s cultural icon Zubeen Garg in Singapore last month.
“Following our request, the Gauhati High Court has approved the constitution of a judicial commission headed by justice Soumitra Saikia to probe Garg’s death. The commission will be constituted on Saturday. I urge all who have some evidence or incidents to share with the commission,” Sarma said on Friday during a Facebook live.
Zubeen died on September 19 in Singapore, just a day before he was scheduled to perform at North East India Festival (NEIF) on September 20, an event aimed at promoting the cultural richness of Northeast India. He had travelled to Singapore specifically for the festival, which was organised by Shyamkanu Mahanta.
The criminal investigation department, which is probing the death, has arrested four people in connection with Garg’s death.
Shyamkanu Mahanta, the chief organiser of NEIF, was arrested at Delhi airport on Wednesday shortly after he returned from Singapore, and Garg’s manager, Siddharth Sharma, was arrested in Gurugram.
On Thursday, police said Garg’s bandmate Shekharjyoti Goswami and singer Amritprava Mahanta, who had also gone to attend the Singapore event, had also been arrested.
The CID has initially registered a case under sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder and death by negligence.
On Thursday, following the interrogation of Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddharth Sharma, CID added the murder charge as well. The agency has also filed a separate case against Mahanta for alleged forgery and financial irregularities.
“Four persons named in the FIRs have already been arrested and sent on 14-day police remand. The job of giving justice to Garg lies with the state government and we will do that diligently,” Sarma said.
The chief minister also urged members of the Assamese community in Singapore who were present when Garg died while swimming in the sea to come forward and join the investigation. He said that not doing so could lead to strict action.
A second postmortem on Garg’s body was conducted on September 23 in Assam after Garg’s body was brought from Singapore. The death certificate issued by Singapore has stated drowning as the cause of death and the post-mortem report has ruled out foul play.
“The report of the post-mortem conducted at Singapore has been handed over to Garg’s wife Garrima on Thursday. The report of the post-mortem done will be given to her on Saturday. It is for her to decide whether she wants to make it public or not. We will also share the same with the court,” Sarma said.
The 52-year-old singer, composer, poet, actor and filmmaker had suffered several incidents of epileptic seizures in the past five years, for which he had to be hospitalised. Due to his condition, doctors had advised him to be careful with water and fire.
Garg’s manager was present at the scene when he (Garg) apparently had another bout of seizure while swimming in sea without a life jacket during a yacht trip organised by some Assamese NRIs based in Singapore.
On Friday, Garg’s wife Garima recorded her statement in court in connection with the case and requested a thorough probe.
Mahanta, organiser of the North East India Festival and a key accused in connection with the death of singer Zubeen Garg, has approached the Supreme Court seeking a transfer of the investigation.
The petition, filed on September 30, urges the top court to hand over the probe from the Assam Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) to a central agency such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Mahanta has also requested that a retired Supreme Court judge be appointed to monitor the case proceedings.
