Assam Police arrested Mahanta and Sharma in Delhi in connection with singer Zubeen Garg’s death in Singapore; both face charges of culpable homicide, conspiracy, and negligence under BNS.
The two were remanded to 14 days’ police custody after being produced before the Kamrup CJM at his residence due to court holidays.
Garg’s wife welcomed the arrests, expressing faith in the SIT investigation and hope for clarity on the singer’s final moments.
In relation to the Assam singer Zubeen Garg’s murder in Singapore last month, Assam Police reported that festival chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta and Garg's manager Siddhartha Sharma were taken into custody from Delhi on Wednesday morning.
The two have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy, and causing death by negligence under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), according to a senior police officer.
They were condemned to 14 days of police imprisonment after being taken to Guwahati and appearing before the Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate's court shortly after their arrest.
The hearing was held at the judge's home because courts are closed for Durga Puja.
The singer's death will be investigated "in accordance with the law," according to Special DGP (CID) Munna Prasad Gupta.
"Both have been remanded to 14 days' police custody," stated Gupta, the head of the SIT established to look into Garg's death.
He claimed that both had already received a "lookout notice" from Interpol.
“On the basis of the notice, immigration authorities detained Mahanta when he arrived at Delhi airport from Singapore and handed him over to Assam Police'', he said.
Regarding Sharma, Gupta said, ''We tracked his location to Delhi and Rajasthan. Last night, we tracked him near the Delhi-Haryana border and arrested him".
''We have seized their mobile phones and also recovered Zubeen's mobile phone''.
Photographs of Mahanta and Sharma in handcuffs and behind bars at the CID office were circulated by police sources.
Assam Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel accompanied the convoy, which was subject to strict security at the airport and on the route to the CJM's home.
Mahanta, the principal organiser of the North East Festival, which Garg had attended in Singapore before his death, was recently prohibited by the state government from hosting any kind of event or function in the state.
Garima Saikia Garg, Zubeen's wife, who is in Jorhat for the singer's 13th day rites, told reporters she was happy the two had been sent to Assam since "we are all waiting to know what happened to him in his last moments."
The Assam government had formed a 10-member SIT to look into the singer's death in Singapore after drowning in the sea on September 19. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had previously stated that a "lookout notice" had been issued against Mahanta and Sharma through Interpol, requesting that they appear before the CID by October 6.
Garima expressed her complete confidence in the investigating team and expressed her hope that they would soon know the specifics of what transpired in Singapore.
With PTI inputs.
