Four more expats join Zubeen Garg death probe; Assam Police to brief case details with civil society

Guwahati, Oct 13 (PTI) Four more Assamese expatriates, who witnessed singer Zubeen Garg's dying moments in Singapore, on Monday appeared before the police here in response to the second notice to them, in connection with the probe into his death, a top official said.

The Assam Police has also invited a few eminent members of the civil society to give them an update on the case and progress on investigations on Tuesday, he added.

Jiolangsat Narzary, Parikshit Sharma and Siddhartha Bora reached the CID headquarters in the morning, while another expat Bhaskar Jyoti Dutta arrived in the evening, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Special DGP Munna Prasad Gupta told PTI.

"We have started our interrogation with the four. Their statements regarding the incidents are being recorded now," he added.

Within the next two days, a few more Assamese NRIs living in Singapore are expected to come and record their statements before the Assam Police, Gupta said.

The police had issued fresh summonses to 10 people associated with Assam Association Singapore as they had failed to appear before the investigating agency within the deadline of October 6.

Earlier, only one Assamese person from Singapore, Rupkamal Kalita, appeared before the CID and was interrogated for more than 24 hours before he was allowed to leave.

The celebrated singer died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore on September 19 while swimming in the sea. He had gone to the Southeast Asian nation to attend the 4th edition of the North East India Festival.

A yacht was booked by a few office bearers of the Assam Association Singapore, and they were present when Garg allegedly drowned.

Speaking to reporters later, Gupta said that the post-mortem examination report "will not be made public" but an update will be shared with some eminent personalities.

"It is wrong that we are going to make the final post-mortem report public. It is not a public document. We have invited a few eminent members of the civil society tomorrow at 4 pm. We will give them an update that we are giving you now -- only that. There is no question of making the report public," he added.

The SDGP neither clarified what update he will share nor mentioned the names of the eminent personalities whom the police have invited.

Although he declined to share further details, sources close to the development told PTI that most of the invited people are editors of a few TV news channels and newspapers.

He stressed that the final post-mortem examination report, including the viscera analysis, will be presented before the court in due course of time.

"We have received the viscera and the final post mortem report reports from the GMCH after it was approved by the experts committee. Now, we will complete the probe as per the law," Gupta said.

"One or two family members are also invited. The briefing will take place at the Police Guest House in Ulubari area," he added.

When contacted, one of the editors, requesting anonymity, confirmed that he was invited for the meeting.

After Garg's second post-mortem examination at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), the viscera sample was sent to the Central Forensic Laboratory (CFL) in Delhi for a detailed examination.

The first autopsy was done in Singapore immediately after Garg's death. The second post-mortem examination was conducted at GMCH on September 23, before the cremation.

Garg's wife Garima on October 4 had returned the GMCH postmortem report of her husband to the police, saying that it was not her "personal document" and the investigators would be the best judge to decide whether it should be made public or not.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said investigators have found a "definite angle" after they received the viscera report.

Earlier, North East India Festival chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, the singer's manager Siddharth Sharma, and his two band members -- Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amrit Prabha Mahanta -- were apprehended.

Later, Garg's cousin and Assam Police DSP Sandipan Garg was arrested in connection with the singer's death in Singapore last month.

Zubeen Garg's PSOs Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya were also arrested after police found huge financial transactions, worth over Rs 1.1 crore, from their accounts.

All the seven arrested people are now in police custody. They were booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy and causing death by negligence.

The remands of Mahanta and Sharma, who were arrested on October 1, will end on Tuesday and police cannot get further custody, the SDGP said.

"As per the law, we can get a maximum custody of 15 days. The first day is usually consumed in arrest and other formalities. So, we have exhausted the maximum limit. Now, it is unlikely that the court will give us further remand," he added.

Gupta, who is leading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed under the CID, said that the investigators are burning the midnight oil to close the case as early as possible by taking it to a "logical conclusion".

"Our request for visiting Singapore reached them on September 30 itself and we are still awaiting a response. We will visit Singapore, where the incident took place, once we get the approval from the Singaporean authority. We are hopeful of a positive response soon," he added. PTI TR ACD SOM TR NN