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Zubeen Garg's fans attack convoy taking accused to Assam's Baksa jail, set police vehicles on fire; several cops injured
Protests erupted outside Baksa District Jail in Assam as five accused in Zubeen Garg's death case were remanded to judicial custody.
Violent protests broke out outside Baksa District Jail in Assam on Wednesday after five accused in the Zubeen Garg death case were brought to the facility following a court order remanding them to judicial custody.
Three police vehicles were torched, and several police personnel, along with at least one journalist, were injured in the stone pelting by hundreds of protesters gathered outside the jail.
Police resorted to firing in the air, baton charge, and tear gas shelling in an attempt to bring the situation under control.
As the convoy carrying the accused reached the jail, a large crowd demanding justice for the late singer gathered at the spot. Tension flared when some protesters began pelting stones at the vehicles transporting the accused, leading to chaos and a heavy police presence to control the situation.
Later, prohibitory orders were imposed near the Baksa jail and in Mushalpur town following the violence, and RAF personnel have been rushed to the area to prevent any further escalation.
Those sent to judicial custody include two prime accused, North East India Festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta and Zubeen's manager Siddhartha Sharma, both arrested on October 1.
The others are Sandipan Garg, Zubeen’s cousin and a suspended Assam Police Service officer who accompanied him to Singapore; and two of Zu personal security officers, Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya, arrested on October 10.
All five were earlier in police custody, where they were interrogated by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the singer’s mysterious death. Their police custody ended Wednesday, following which they were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Baksa and sent to judicial custody.
The accused were sent to 14 days judicial custody. None of the five accused filed bail application in court. They were taken a newly constructed prison in Baksa district located around 100km away from Guwahati.
Addressing media persons, government advocate Pradip Konwar said, "14 days of judicial custody has been granted from the CJM court, and 5 people will be sent to jail directly."
They were arrested earlier this month by the special investigation team (SIT) of Assam police’s criminal investigation department (CID) for their alleged involvement in Zubeen's death on September 19 while swimming in the sea in Singapore.
Special DGP (CID) and head of the 10-member SIT, MP Gupta, told journalists that the police remand of two more accused Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta, bandmate of Garg and a singer respectively (both were present at the scene of the singer's death), will expire on September 17, and they will produced in court on that date.
Till Tuesday, seven of the 11 NRIs based in Singapore who had been issued notices by the CID have arrived in Guwahati and joined the probe. With three more recording statements on Wednesday, that figure has gone up to 11.
Gupta also informed that a post-mortem report which is circulating on social media platforms with the claim that it was of Zubeen's, is not genuine.
Following the death of Garg while swimming in the sea on September 19, the CID of Assam Police had registered a case of murder, criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder and death due to negligence.
The incident had occurred during a yacht party arranged by some Assamese NRIs and eight of them were present when Zubeen died while swimming in the sea. The SIT had earlier issued summons to them and three other NRIs who were not present at the scene to come to Assam and assist the investigation.
Apart from the CID investigation in Assam, the Singapore authorities are also conducting a separate probe related to the case and have shared some information related to it with the Assam police.
