Zubeen's death: 3 members of Assamese community in Singapore appear before SIT

Guwahati, Oct 15 (PTI) Assam Special Director General of Police Munna Prasad Gupta said three more members of the Assamese community in Singapore, who were with Zubeen Garg during his last moments in the island country, appeared on Wednesday before the SIT probing into the singer's death.

Three persons - Sushmita Goswami, Pratim Bhuyan and Debojyoti Hazarika - reported to the CID office here and are currently being interrogated, Gupta told reporters.

Of the 11 people who were issued summons, 10 have already appeared before the SIT, he said.

''Only one person, Wajed Ahmed, is yet to come. There are certain formalities to be followed as he is a Singaporean citizen. Ahmed has informed us that he wants to come, and we are hopeful that he will soon arrive," Gupta said.

All others who have come from Singapore are Indian citizens, he added.

Initially, only one person, Rupkamal Kalita, had appeared before the SIT, on October 7, a day after the first deadline ended, following which fresh summons were issued to the others.

The Special DGP also clarified that a purported post-mortem examination report that went viral on social media was ''not authentic".

"It was fake, and there is no doctor's signature on it. The post-mortem report received by us has the doctor's signature," he added.

Gupta said that the police will inquire into the matter to find out if the post-mortem examination report has been deliberately released to divert attention and mislead the people about the investigations.

He appealed to the people that no fake news should be shared on social media.

''We are monitoring the social media and circulating any kind of misleading or false news is a crime and we will take action'', Gupta said.

Meanwhile, the Singapore authorities have sent an email through the Indian High Commission, seeking information on the Assam police officials and their agenda to visit the island nation in connection with the death of singer Zubeen Garg, Gupta said.

''We have already replied to the email and this is a very positive development'', Gupta told reporters here.

The Singapore authorities have also received the request for the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to be invoked, he said.

''We hope that we will get the green signal very soon to go to Singapore to take forward our work related to the investigations," Gupta said.

The investigations into the death of the singer are "progressing well in the state", he said.

Assam's cultural icon, Zubeen Garg, had died in Singapore while swimming in the sea on September 19. PTI DG DG BDC