Zubeen Garg death: Assam Police DSP suspended after arrest, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says chargesheet within 3 months

Guwahati: Zubeen Garg's cousin and Assam Police DSP Sandipan Garg was apprehended on Wednesday in connection with the singer's death in Singapore last month, taking the total number of arrests in the case to five, a senior officer said.

The DSP was remanded to seven-day police custody by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Kamrup Metropolitan district, he said.

He was later in the evening suspended with immediate effect.

A special investigation team under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Assam Police is probing into the singer’s death.

The police will also issue fresh summonses to 10 people associated with the Assam Association Singapore, as they failed to appear before the investigating agency within the deadline of October 6.

Two personal security officers (PSOs) of Zubeen Garg were also suspended, after police unearthed huge financial transactions, worth over Rs 1.1 crore, from their accounts, the officer said.

CID Special DGP Munna Prasad Gupta told PTI, "We have arrested Sandipan Garg. We are now completing the necessary legal formalities." The case was registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) like murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy and causing death by negligence.

The apprehended police officer, who was working as the co-district in-charge superintendent of Boko-Chhaygaon in Kamrup, was interrogated several times in the last few days in connection with the singer's death in Singapore on September 19.

Sandipan Garg was allegedly present with him at the yacht when Zubeen died while swimming in the sea.

An official order on Wednesday evening stated that he has been suspended with immediate effect following his arrest.

During the period of suspension, the headquarters of Garg, ''if released from judicial custody, will be Assam Police Headquarters, Guwahati, subject to review, if deemed necessary'', it said.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the chargesheet in the investigation into the death of singer Zubeen Garg will be submitted within the stipulated period of three months.

The Assam government will “definitely ensure justice to him”, Sarma asserted.

''The inquiry is proceeding on expected lines. We have made one arrest after the other, and I am sure that the Assam Police will submit the chargesheet within the stipulated time frame,'' he said on the sidelines of a programme in Dibrugarh.

''We are duty-bound to provide justice to him and we will not spare anybody in that context,'' he added.

During the day, the CM’s wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma filed a criminal defamation case against Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi for alleging that one of her firms had participated in the North East India Festival in Singapore.

Bhuyan Sarma filed the case against the Sivasagar MLA at the Kamrup Metro Chief Judicial Magistrate's court for making ''false and unfounded allegations that the Golden Threads of Assam had participated in a fashion show organised during the festival in Singapore”.

Besides Gogoi, a case has also been filed against the director of news portal 'Pratibimba Live', her lawyer Kishore Dutta said here.

Dutta said he has instructions to file a defamation case against Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi, too, and it will be done on Thursday.

Earlier, North East India Festival chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, the singer's manager Siddharth Sharma, and his two band members - Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amrit Prabha Mahanta - were arrested. They are now in police custody.

Asked about the Assamese present in the yacht at the time of the singer's demise in Singapore, Gupta said altogether 11 NRIs from the state were earlier issued notices, asking them to appear before the Assam Police by October 6, but only one of them came to record his statement.

"We are going to issue fresh summonses to all of them who have not come yet. We will move ahead as per the legal process," he said.

Quizzed if the police have been able to reach out to the non-responsive NRIs, Gupta said, "Some contacts have been established with them. As it is a foreign country, we have to follow some processes and we are doing that." He also appealed to them to come forward and present their version of the incident.

Zubeen Garg's PSOs Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya have been with him for a long time, since they were attached to the singer by Assam Police following a death threat by banned militant group ULFA almost a decade back, he said.

“We found financial irregularities from their bank accounts... Accordingly, both the PSOs have been suspended and departmental proceedings are being initiated,” Gupta said.

Another senior officer told PTI on the condition of anonymity that Sandipan Garg is likely to be placed under suspension, as the court sent him to police remand.

"The department is also verifying if he had taken permission from the government before travelling to Singapore. As per the service rule, a public servant cannot travel abroad without the government’s go-ahead," he said.

On Wednesday, several people were called to the CID headquarters to record their statements in connection with the singer's death and related financial irregularities allegedly committed by Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddharth Sharma.

Prominent among them was popular singer and Zubeen Garg’s old friend Manas Robin. After meeting the SIT, he claimed to have provided "significant proof" of fiscal irregularities to the investigators.