
The Assam Police on Thursday arrested two musicians who were in Singapore with singer Zubeen Garg when he drowned to death during a yacht trip, reported The Indian Express.
Garg, a popular Assamese singer, died on September 19, a day before he was scheduled to perform at the North East India Festival.
The event had been organised by the Indian government and the Indian High Commission in Singapore, with support from the Assam Association and the North East India Association in the country.
Shekharjyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta, who were arrested on Thursday, were also due to perform at the festival.
The arrests came hours after the Assam Police charged Garg’s manager Siddhartha Sharma and North East India Festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section pertaining to murder.
Sharma and Mahanta were arrested on Wednesday and remanded to 14 days’ police custody.
They were booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita pertaining to criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and causing death by negligence.
On the same day, the Singapore Police Force told The Straits Times that it had sent the Indian High Commission a copy of Garg’s autopsy report and preliminary findings on his death.
The force, which comes under the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs, had earlier ruled out foul play, the newspaper reported.
A death certificate issued by the Singaporean authorities on September 20 stated the cause of Garg’s death as drowning.
However, more than 50 first information reports were filed against Sharma and Mahanta after his death.
The state police had also formed a Special Investigation Team, headed by Special Director General of Police MP Gupta, to probe the case lodged by its Criminal Investigation Department.
Both Mahanta and Sharma had earlier issued statements on social media saying that they were avoiding returning to Assam out of concern for their safety. Mahanta and his team had stated that they had “no prior knowledge” of Garg taking the yacht trip.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had also said that Mahanta’s bank accounts were frozen and that a separate investigation was underway into his alleged involvement in organised financial crimes.
On Tuesday, Sarma stated that the Centre had written to the Singapore government, seeking cooperation in the investigation into Garg’s death under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between the two countries.
The treaty allows both countries to share evidence, documents and investigative support in criminal cases.
Also read: Why musician Zubeen Garg’s death has unleashed a storm of anger in Assam
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