Source Deccan Herald
Guwahati: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Assam CID, probing the mysterious death of iconic Assamese cultural figure Zubeen Garg, has filed a comprehensive chargesheet, formally charging four individuals with murder. The massive document, spanning over 3,500 pages, was submitted before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup (Metro), in Guwahati on Friday.
The chargesheet names four primary accused under serious sections of the law, including Section 103 (murder) and Section 106 (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The four charged with murder are Zubeen’s manager Siddhartha Sharma, the organiser of the Northeast India Festival in Singapore Shyamkanu Mahanta, and his two bandmates, Shekhar Goswami and Amritprabha Mahanta.
The SIT, which has arrested seven persons and questioned over 300 individuals during its investigation, also pressed additional charges against others connected to the case. Zubeen’s cousin, police officer Sandipan Garg, has been charged under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the BNS. Furthermore, charges of criminal breach of trust (Section 316 BNS) have been leveled against Sharma, Mahanta, and Zubeen’s Personal Security Officers (PSOs) Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya.
The celebrated 52-year-old singer, musician, and filmmaker died on September 19 while swimming in the sea in Singapore, where he was attending the Northeast India Festival as a “cultural ambassador.”
While initial reports suggested his death was an unfortunate mishap, the case took a dramatic turn after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma publicly declared on multiple occasions that Zubeen Garg was murdered, stating in the State Assembly that it was a “simple, plain murder case” and that the chargesheet would “shock everyone.”
The case has drawn immense public attention across Assam and has since escalated into a political issue ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. Opposition parties, including the Congress, have been demanding a CBI inquiry into the matter, suggesting the involvement of the Union Ministry of External Affairs due to the government support for the Singapore event. The filing of the 3,500-page chargesheet is expected to further intensify the scrutiny and debate surrounding the death of the cultural icon.
