Zubeen Garg death case: Judicial commission to monitor probe, 2 band members sent to 14-day police remand

Guahati: A day after CID in Assam imposed murder charge on two prime accused in the Zubeen Garg's death case, the Gauhati High Court on Friday approved a request for a Judicial Commission to monitor the investigation into the circumstances leading to sudden death of iconic singer in Singapore on September 19.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said the judicial commission headed by a sitting judge, Justice Soumitra Saikia will be formed on Saturday to ensure proper investigation and justice to the iconic singer.

Sarma also informed that report of the post-mortem conducted on Garg's body in Singapore was handed over to his wife Garima and the report of the second postmortem conducted in Gauhati Medical College Hospital will also be handed over to her on Saturday.

"It is upto Garima whether she wants to make the report public or not. We will also submit the reports to the court," Sarma said in a video on Facebook.

14 days remand to band members

Sarma's announcement came on a day when a court in Guwahati remanded two of Zubeen's band members, musician Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and singer Amritprabha Mahanta to 14 days custody of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case.

The two, who accompanied Zubeen on an yacht when the incident took place, were arrested on Thursday following interrogation by the SIT. Goswami had earlier claimed that Garg's body parts had turned blue soon after he drowned while swimming in the sea.

This raised suspicion over the cause of Zubeen's death following which Assam government conducted the second post-mortem on the singer's body hours before his cremation on September 23.

Videos of the incident were reportedly shared on social media from Amritprabha's mobile phone, a fact, which according to police, was not disclosed by her earlier.

"They will be interrogated properly so that we can reach a logical conclusion," MP Gupta, the special director general of police, CID, who leads the SIT, told reporters on Friday.

Zubeen's manager Siddharth Sharma and Shyamkanu Mahanta, the organiser of the Northeast Festival in Singapore, were earlier arrested and similarly remanded to 14-day police remand.

Zubeen was in Singapore to attend the festival organised by Mahanta, an Assam-based entrepreneur. Police on Thursday imposed murder charge against Mahanta and Sharma.

Garg's wife Garima on Thursday questioned why the singer was allowed to go to the sea despite doctor's advice against the same. She said Siddharth was aware of the doctor's advice given after Zubeen was hospitalised with seizures in 2020.

CM Sarma also appealed to a group of Singapore-based Assamese people, who were with Zubeen during the incident, to co-operate in the investigation.

"If they don't come forward, we will be tough against them too. Giving justice to Zubeen is the government's responsibility and will do everything to ensure justice," Sarma said. The Singapore-based group had reportedly organised the yacht party.

Assam has remained on the boil since the 52-year-old iconic singer's sudden death with the demand and pressure on the government for justice growing every day.