Guwahati: Five people arrested in connection with the death of singer Zubeen Garg in Singapore have been sent to judicial custody after their police remand ended on Wednesday.
Those sent to custody include North East India Festival (NEIF) 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 Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate ordered that they be kept in a jail with fewer inmates for safety reasons. Following the court’s direction, the authorities decided to shift all five to Baksa Jail at Mussalpur, which was inaugurated two months ago and has no prisoners yet.
Mahanta and Sharma were arrested on October 1 in Delhi and booked under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy, and causing death by negligence. Later, murder charges were also added. Their 14-day police custody ended on Tuesday.
Zubeen’s cousin, DSP Sandipan Garg, was arrested on October 8 and suspended from service. He was reportedly present on the yacht with Zubeen in Singapore during the incident.
Zubeen’s PSOs, Bora and Baishya, were arrested on October 10 and remanded to five days of custody. Two of his band members, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta, were also arrested earlier on October 3 and remain in custody.
The CID is also probing financial irregularities against Mahanta, including alleged money laundering and ownership of ‘benami’ properties.
The Assam Government has set up a 10-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe Zubeen Garg’s death, which occurred in Singapore on September 19, reportedly due to drowning at sea.
Over 60 FIRs have been filed across Assam in connection with the case, all of which have been consolidated under CID for a detailed investigation.