A fan gets emotional after singer Zubeen Garg died while scuba diving in Singapore, outside his residence in Guwahati, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025.
Credit: PTI Photo
Guwahati: Markets shut, streets deserted, fans playing his popular musical numbers on the streets; many found crying in public.
This sums up the scenes prevailing in most parts of Assam since Friday as the state awaits mortal remains of singer, musician Zubeen Garg, who passed away in Singapore on Friday while scuba diving.
"Zubeen da was a hope to live, to struggle in life," said young Deepjyoti Bayan who was inconsolable at an event on Friday evening in the campus of Gauhati University, where the students and teachers paid their tributes.
Many sang Zubeen's popular numbers and cried together. "We can't accept him going like this just at the age of 52," his friend Raktim Bhuyan said.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who visited Garg's residence in Guwahati on Saturday morning, said that Zubeen's mortal remains would be kept at the Sarusajai sports complex to allow his fans to pay their last tributes. Later, Sarma left for New Delhi to receive his mortal remains from Singapore, which is likely to reach Guwahati on Sunday morning. His mortal remains would first be taken to his residence before the mass condolence.
Multiple FIRs
Chief Minister Sarma said that multiple FIRs have been filed against Shyamkanu Mahanta, the organiser of the Northeast Festival and Zubeen's associate Sidharth Sarma in connection with the iconic singer's death.
Garg was in Singapore to attend the festival and died while scuba diving after a trip on a yacht in the sea. The organisers on Friday said they heard that Zubeen had gone out for scuba diving. Mahanta said they were busy in business meetings with Singapore industrialists on Friday when they were informed about the tragedy.
Zubeen reportedly had breathing difficulties while swimming in the sea and he collapsed. He was declared dead in a hospital. "Zubeen used a life jacket but he later removed it as it was oversized," Sarma said. "I have directed the DGP to transfer all the FIRs to the CID and to register a consolidated case for a thorough investigation."
Sarma and Mahanta said Zubeen had gone to the sea for a yacht journey with his four associates and 11 other Assamese residents in Singapore. Those who were with Zubeen during the mishap were reportedly detained and questioned by Singapore police.
In the span of four decades, Zubeen became a star as a singer, musician, lyricist, actor and filmmaker. He sang nearly 38,000 songs in at least 40 languages. Most of his songs, however, are in Assamese, Hindi and Bengali.