Why Assam government ordered second post-mortem of Zubeen Garg’s body

Assam's cultural icon, Zubeen Garg, died in Singapore on September 19 during a swimming incident.

A second post-mortem examination of singer Zubeen Garg's body will be conducted on Tuesday morning at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Assam, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced.

People gather around the vehicle carrying the mortal remains of singer Zubeen Garg as they are taken to his residence from Guwahati airport, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025.(PTI)

A cultural icon for Assam, Zubeen Garg, 52, died in Singapore on September 19 during a swimming incident. He was in the city to attend the North East India Festival, where he was scheduled to perform the next day. It was suspected that an epileptic seizure could be linked to his death. Garg had had a few instances of such seizures in the past five years.

Authorities in Singapore had conducted an autopsy on September 19 before handing over his body to his associates. A death certificate listed drowning as the cause of death. HT has reviewed the document.

Why the 2nd autopsy?

According to CM Sarma, the Assam government has decided to conduct another post-mortem on singer Zubeen Garg’s body to rule out any foul play in his death.

“A new demand has cropped up on social media on Tuesday seeking another post-mortem of Garg’s body in Assam. In view of that and after taking consent of his family, the state government has decided to conduct another post-mortem on Garg’s body in Guwahati on Tuesday,” Sarma said.

He added that he was not personally inclined to having a second postmortem examination of the singer's body, adding that he does not wish to ''cut up his body" again, according to PTI.

“After the Singapore doctors had conducted the autopsy, I don't think it was necessary as they have more technical expertise, but there should not be any scope for any section to indulge in any kind of politics over Zubeen,” he said.

Post-mortem to be done at GMCH

Sarma said the fresh post-mortem would be conducted at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Tuesday morning in the presence of some doctors of AIIMS Guwahati.

Following that, the singer's last rites will be performed with full state honours. His body will be taken for the last rites at Kamarkuchi at Sonapur on the outskirts around 10 am with around 85 members of Garg’s family, relatives and close associates.

On Sunday, thousands of people had gathered in Guwahati to bid farewell to Zubeen Garg. Huge crowds of grief-stricken fans queued through the night, waiting for hours to catch a final glimpse of the singer, whose mortal remains were kept in a glass casket draped with a traditional Assamese 'gamosa'.

Earlier, multiple police complaints at different police stations have been filed against the organisers of the North East Festival, Shyam Kanu Mahanta and Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma, accusing them of foul play in the death. These cases have been handed over to the state criminal investigation department (CID) for investigation.