Police on Wednesday said that North East India Festival (NEIF) chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta and Zubeen Garg's manager Siddhartha Sharma were arrested in connection with the singer's death in Singapore. Police added that Mahanta was arrested on his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi from Singapore while Sharma was arrested from an apartment in Gurugram. The duo was brought to Guwahati early on Wednesday morning, a senior police official told PTI.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Kamrup district sent Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddharth Sharma to 14-day Police Custody, the SIT said.
Assam forms 10-member SIT to probe Zubeen Garg's death
The development comes after the Assam government constituted a 10-member SIT, led by Special DGP M P Gupta, to investigate the singer's death in Singapore due to drowning in the sea on September 19.
Later, the SIT issued notices to several people, including Mahanta, Sharma and members of Singapore Assam Association and those who had gone to Singapore for the festival to appear before it and record their statements.
Lookout notice issued against Mahanta and Sharma
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said earlier that a 'lookout notice' through the Interpol had been issued against Mahanta and Sharma, asking them to appear before the CID by October 6.
Earlier this week, Zubeen Garg’s family filed a complaint with the state CID over his death by drowning in Singapore, seeking a thorough probe into the incident.
Garg's uncle Manoj Kumar Borthakur, a signatory in the complaint, told PTI that they had sent it to the CID through email on Saturday. "We want a thorough probe into the circumstances leading to Zubeen's death," he said.
Garg's wife Garima and his sister Palme Borthakur are the other signatories. "We have sought an investigation into those present on the yacht trip during which the fatal incident occurred, organiser of North East India Festival Shyamkanu Mahanta and others who may be associated with the incident," another family member of Garg said.
Garg drowned while swimming on September 19
Garg was in the Southeast Asian country to participate in the festival and had drowned while swimming without a life jacket in the sea on September 19 during the yacht trip, organised by members of the Singapore Assam Association.
The singer's family also urged the police to take steps to secure the copyrights of the creative works of Garg. A senior police officer said, "We have received a complaint from Garg's family and are examining it."
He said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of CID is already probing the incidents surrounding the death of the singer-composer, and the complaint filed by the family will be taken up with it. A SIT member visited Garg's residence in the Kahilipara area of Guwahati on Sunday, he said.
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Zubeen Garg's family files complaint with Assam CID, seeks probe into his death in Singapore
