Assam SIT files charge sheet in Zubeen Garg murder case

GUWAHATI: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Assam Police filed the charge sheet in the high-profile Zubeen Garg murder case in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup (Metro), on Friday.The charge sheet was prepared after nearly three months of investigation, during which the SIT recorded the statements of more than 300 people, including a few Singapore-based Assamese expats. The music icon Garg (52) had died mysteriously on September 19 while swimming in the sea in Singapore. He travelled to the country to perform at the 4th North East India Festival (NEIF).Later, the SIT arrested seven persons – NEIF organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma, DSP cousin Sandipan Garg, personal security officers Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya, bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and singer Amritprabha Mahanta. Recently, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the Assembly that one person had murdered Garg and others cooperated. He categorically stated that it was a case of “plain and simple murder.” “They (opposition parties) attacked me asking how I could conclude Zubeen was murdered. But it is in the court’s record that this was murder. One person murdered him and others cooperated. We have booked four to five persons on the murder charge,” Sarma had stated.Without sharing details, he said a “big story” (conspiracy) involving Garg started before the Covid pandemic. He indicated that the death was connected to financial matters.“We have the evidence. That’s why, I told the SIT to first file the charge sheet on the murder case and then, expand the inquiry so that nobody can escape,” Sarma said.He further stated that on the very first day, the government believed Garg’s death was not a normal incident and, as such, registered a case under BNS sections 61 (criminal conspiracy), 105 (culpable homicide) and 106 (causing death by negligence). “During preliminary investigation, the Assam Police were certain that it was not a case of culpable homicide but a plain and simple murder. So, within two days, the Assam government informed the court that it was a case of murder and requested it to add the BNS section 103. After a debate on it, the court added section 103,” Sarma had said.



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