Singapore Police's findings won't impact Assam Police's case in Zubeen Garg's death, say officials

Guwahati: The proceedings in the Zubeen Garg death case in Assam will not be impacted in any way by Singapore Police concluding its probe by maintaining that there is no evidence of foul play, officials said here on Thursday.

Assam Police's investigation here has been "comprehensive" and the charge sheet filed before the local court in Guwahati has been based on it, they maintained.

"The investigation, findings and closure by Singapore Police into the drowning of Zubeen Garg in that country in September last year will have no bearing and impact on the ongoing proceedings in the fast-track court here," state Advocate General Devajit Saikia told PTI.

"The charge sheet filed in Guwahati is on the basis of allegations of offences and premises which are different from those of the probe conducted by the Singapore Police," he maintained.

The probe in the state had taken a more comprehensive and larger picture into account, going back to the happenings over the last couple of years, Special Director General of Police (SDGP) MP Gupta, who headed a SIT that investigated the death here, added.

The singer-composer drowned while swimming off Lazarus Island on September 19, a day before he was slated to perform at the North East India Festival in Singapore.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Assam Police's CID probed the death and filed its charge sheet before a local court here in December, naming seven accused. Four of them are facing murder charges.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in the state Assembly in November that Garg's death was a case of "plain and simple murder".

A fast-track sessions court is now hearing the case in Guwahati on a day-to-day basis.

The Singapore Police, in a statement on Wednesday, confirmed that investigations into the death of Garg have concluded and there is no evidence of foul play.

While refusing to comment on the findings of the Singapore Police, Gupta told PTI that it will have no impact here as "in our investigation we had taken the larger picture into account, going back to a couple of years and the continued happenings." "A clear picture emerges where the dots are connected…we have looked into the happenings over several years, how Garg was swindled by the accused," he said.

"Omissions and commissions by these persons (accused) have been taken into account. Being a manager or a cousin accompanying him, they had some duties to perform and cannot shrug them off," the SDGP added.

"When the dots are connected, the larger picture emerges," he asserted.

Advocate General Saikia further said that, if required, a distinction between the investigations in Assam and in Singapore will be drawn, though he refrained from making any comparisons at the moment.

"I don't want to distinguish between the two investigations elaborately at this stage. But if needed we will distinguish the cases and situations at an appropriate stage," he said.

The state coroner in Singapore had found that Garg's death was "simply due to an unfortunate and tragic accidental drowning" and that no one had forced, coerced or pushed him into the water.

Directly addressing a concern raised by Garg's wife about the Singapore Police Coast Guard's finding that there was no foul play, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said on March 25 that the PCG had conducted a comprehensive and thorough investigation in this case.

Following the development, the opposition parties in poll-bound Assam maintained that the "mystery" behind Garg's death has remained unsolved, particularly with investigating agencies in India and Singapore arriving at different conclusions in the same case.

The chief minister, however, maintained there was "no difference" between the Singapore verdict and state police's charge sheet, and the verdict will "strengthen" the case here.