Guwahati: Assam Police on Thursday arrested musician Shakharjyoti Goswami and singer Amritprabha Mahanta in connection with the mysterious death of popular singer Zubeen Garg. The two were reportedly present at the scene when the incident took place and were taken into custody after interrogation.
“We have found some evidence against them, and further inquiry required their arrest,” a police officer said. With these arrests, four people are now in custody, including Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma and festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, who were arrested on Wednesday. Both had been booked under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, conspiracy, and negligence leading to death.
Special DGP of Assam Police’s CID Munna Prasad Gupta confirmed that Mahanta and Sharma are under 14-day police remand. He added that Section 103 of the BNS—dealing with murder and carrying the punishment of death or life imprisonment—has been included in the FIR.
Shyamkanu Mahanta, the key organiser of the Northeast India Festival where Garg was scheduled to perform, is the younger brother of former Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, now serving as the state’s Chief Information Commissioner. Over 60 FIRs have been filed against him and nearly 10 others across Assam following Garg’s death.
Meanwhile, Gupta said the autopsy report conducted in Singapore would be shared directly with Garg’s family by authorities there. In India, the viscera samples sent to the Central Forensic Laboratory in Delhi are still under analysis, after which the final post-mortem report from Gauhati Medical College is expected.
Zubeen Garg died on September 19 in Singapore while swimming in the sea, shortly before his scheduled performance at the festival. Assam Police have constituted a nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Gupta. The SIT is also awaiting clearance to travel to Singapore to gather further evidence.
