Zubeen Garg death: Gauhati High Court approves judicial commission
Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court on Friday approved a request to form a Judicial Commission to monitor the investigation into the sudden death of iconic singer Zubeen Garg in Singapore.
The High Court's decision comes a day after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Assam added murder charges to the case against two of the prime accused.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Friday that the judicial commission will be headed by sitting judge Justice Soumitra Saikia and will be formally constituted on Saturday.
Chief Minister Sarma said the commission’s goal is to ensure a "proper investigation and justice" for the beloved singer.
The Chief Minister also confirmed that the report from the post-mortem conducted on Zubeen Garg’s body in Singapore has been handed over to his wife, Garima Saikia Garg. The report from the second post-mortem, conducted at Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH), will also be provided to her on Saturday.
“It is up to Garima whether she wants to make the report public or not. We will also submit the reports to the court,” Sarma stated in a Facebook video.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Assam police has so far arrested four persons in connection with Zubeen Garg’s death. The murder charge was added to the case filed to investigate the superstar’s demise while he was in Singapore for the Northeast India Festival.
The four arrested are Shyamkanu Mahanta, organizer of the Northeast India Festival, who was detained at Delhi airport; Siddhartha Sharma, Zubeen Garg’s manager, arrested in Gurgaon; and musicians Shekharjyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta, both arrested on Tuesday.
All four individuals are currently in 14 days’ police custody and are being questioned by the SIT.
Zubeen Garg, 52, died on September 19 after he went swimming during a yacht outing in Singapore. Officials confirmed that both Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta were in Singapore with Zubeen for the festival and were part of the yacht outing when the incident occurred.
The singer's death had triggered a massive outcry across Assam, leading to several complaints alleging negligence by the organizers and those accompanying him.
Subsequently, the CID registered a consolidated case under BNS sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and causing death by negligence, with the murder charge being the latest addition.