Zubeen Garg death case: 5 accused sent to judicial custody
What's the story
A Guwahati court sent five of the seven accused in the Zubeen Garg death case to judicial custody for 14 days on Wednesday. The accused include Shyamkanu Mahanta, Siddharth Sharma, Sandipan Garg, Paresh Baishya, and Nandeswar Bora. They were arrested by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Assam Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for their alleged involvement in the singer's untimely demise on September 19 during a yacht party in Singapore.
Investigation details
Who are the accused?
Mahanta is the organizer of an event in Singapore that took Garg to the country. Sharma is the singer's manager, while Sandipan, an Assam Police officer, is also Garg's cousin. Both Sharma and Sandipan were present at the scene of Garg's death. Mahanta was also in Singapore for the event but was away when the incident occurred. Baishya and Bora are Assam Police constables assigned to Garg's security who allegedly mismanaged his money through their bank accounts.
Legal proceedings
2 other were arrested; NRIs involved as well
The judicial remand of the five accused marks a significant development in the case, which is likely to expand further in the coming days. As many as 11 NRIs from Singapore have been summoned for interrogation. Till Tuesday, seven of them had arrived. Meanwhile, beside the five accused, two more individuals, bandmates Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta, were also arrested.
Case background
What we know about the case so far
The SIT was formed after preliminary findings by Assam Police indicated discrepancies in the events leading to Garg's death. The singer had gone to Singapore for the North East India Festival, an annual event showcasing the region's culture. He died while swimming at a yacht party organized by some Assamese NRIs in Singapore. The CID has registered a case of murder, criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and death due to negligence following his demise.