Five accused in Zubeen Garg’s death sent to judicial custody after police remand.
Court orders transfer of all five to Baksa Jail for safety reasons.
CID and SIT continue parallel probes into the singer’s death in Singapore.
Five people arrested in connection with the death of singer Zubeen Garg in Singapore last month were sent to judicial custody on Wednesday after their police remand ended.
According to PTI, those remanded include North East India Festival (NEIF) chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, Zubeen’s manager Siddhartha Sharma, his cousin and police officer Sandipan Garg, and his two personal security officers (PSOs) Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya. The order was issued by the Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate.
The court, expressing concern for the safety of the accused, directed that they be lodged in a facility with fewer prisoners. Based on the order, authorities decided to transfer all five to Baksa Jail at Mussalpur, which was inaugurated two months ago and currently has no inmates, an official told PTI.
Mahanta and Sharma were arrested on 1 October in Delhi in connection with Zubeen Garg’s death in Singapore. They were initially charged under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy, and causing death by negligence, with murder charges later added. Their 14-day police custody ended on Tuesday.
Zubeen’s cousin, Assam Police Deputy Superintendent of Police Sandipan Garg, was arrested on 8 October and remanded to seven days of police custody. Serving as the in-charge of the co-district superintendent of police of Boko–Chaygaon in Kamrup district, he was suspended from duty on the day of his arrest. PTI reported that Sandipan had accompanied the singer to Singapore and was present on the yacht during Zubeen’s final moments.
The singer’s PSOs, Bora and Baishya, were arrested on 10 October and given five days of police custody. Two others, Zubeen’s band members Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and singer Amritprava Mahanta, had earlier been arrested on 3 October and remanded to 14 days of police custody.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has also launched a separate probe against Shyamkanu Mahanta for alleged organised financial crimes and the acquisition of substantial “benami” properties through money laundering.
The Assam government has constituted a 10-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the singer’s death, which occurred on 19 September in Singapore due to drowning in the sea. More than 60 FIRs were filed across the state against Mahanta, Sharma and others following the incident. The chief minister subsequently directed the Director General of Police to transfer all the FIRs to the CID and register a consolidated case for a comprehensive investigation, PTI reported.
(With inputs from PTI)
