Zubeen Garg death probe: Four more Assamese expats from Singapore appear before police

Guwahati, Oct 13 (PTI) Four more Assamese expats, 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.

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, he added.

Jiolangsat Narzary, Parikshit Sharma and Siddhartha Bora reached the Criminal Investigation Department headquarters in the morning, while another expat Bhaskar Jyoti Dutta arrived in the evening, 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.

The police issued fresh summonses to 10 members of the 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.

Regarding the remaining six people, who have not responded to the notices, Gupta said, "We are hoping that a few more people will appear before us in the next 48 hours." He 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," Gupta said.

He claimed that the investigation is progressing on the right track and the Assam Police are "actively pursuing" the case with Singaporean authorities for getting permission to visit the island nation.

"Like us, the Singapore Police are also conducting a probe. They sought some information from us and we already provided that to them through the Indian High Commission," Gupta said.

The Indian government had earlier invoked the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Singapore, seeking cooperation in the investigation into the death of the singer in the Southeast Asian country.

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.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Assam Police is currently probing Garg's death case after more than 60 FIRs were lodged across the state.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said investigators of Zubeen Garg's death case have found a "definite angle" after they received the viscera report.

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 conducted in Singapore immediately after Garg's death. The second post-mortem examination was done at GMCH on September 23 before taking Garg's body for cremation.

The CM also said that the Singapore Police had sought some "vital information" in connection with the death of the singer in the island nation, and the Assam government forwarded the required inputs to the authorities there. PTI TR ACD TR NN