Chargesheet in Zubeen Garg case to be filed by Dec 17: Assam CM

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday announced that authorities will file the chargesheet in the Zubeen Garg “murder” case by December 17, 2025.

Sarma announced this a day after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters this afternoon that officials are not calling today’s incident an accident. He confirmed that authorities will file the chargesheet for Zubeen Garg’s murder by December 17, adding that he has set an eight-day target and that officials are fully prepared to meet it.

"If any such incident happens abroad, approval from the Home Ministry is needed before filing the chargesheet. Yesterday, I  met Amit Shah. So that we can get the approval soon, I think that within three- four days, SIT will write to the  Ministry of Home Affairs. If needed, we will give the chargesheet in 7, 8, or 9 days," CM Sarma added.

The investigation into the death of legendary Assamese singer Zubeen Garg, who drowned under suspicious circumstances in the sea in Singapore on September 19, 2025, has intensified.

Garg, 52, was in Singapore for the North East India Festival when he reportedly died while swimming, and was not wearing a life jacket. The Singapore autopsy listed drowning as the cause, but thousands of fans suspected foul play.

To probe the case, the Assam government swiftly constituted a 9-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on September 24, led by Special DGP Munna Prasad Gupta.

Dispur Police Station consolidated over 60 FIRs filed statewide against festival organizer Shyamkanu Mahanta and others into Case No. 18/2025.

The FIR invokes key sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including 103 (murder, added later), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), and 106(1) (causing death by negligence).

Seven arrests have followed, including Shyamkanu Mahanta, Garg's manager Siddharth Sharma, cousin and DSP Sandipan Garg (suspended), band members Shekharjyoti Goswami and Amritprabha Mahanta, and personal security officers Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya.

All are in judicial custody, with extensions granted amid public outrage; two band members remain in Haflong prison while the rest five are in Baksa jail.

The Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department are also probing financial irregularities tied to Mahanta's firm, Trend MMS.

On October 3, the government formed a one-man judicial commission headed by Gauhati High Court Justice Soumitra Saikia (expanded to five members on October 16) to oversee the probe, marking the first such panel under a sitting judge.

It will examine negligence, conspiracy, and event sequences, inviting public affidavits until November 21.

Garg's cremation on September 23 at Kamarkuchi village near Guwahati drew lakhs, with full state honors including a 21-gun salute.

Mourners processed his remains draped in a gamosa, chanting "Joi Zubeen Da." Wife Garima Saikia Garg, who returned the autopsy reports seeking transparency, pleaded, "We trust the system for swift justice, reveal what happened in his final moments."

Sister Palme Borthakur echoed, "Zubeen was straightforward; give us the truth." Fans, mourning at his "Zubeen Khetra" memorial, demand capital punishment, with protests turning violent in Baksa on October 15, prompting BNS Section 163 curbs.

As Assam grapples with grief over its cultural icon, who championed Assamese identity, the SIT's December deadline offers hope for closure in this tragedy-turned-conspiracy.