Assam Police team returns from Singapore after probing Zubeen Garg’s death

PTI, 23 October, 2025, Guwahati : Two senior police officers, who had gone to Singapore to probe the death of singer Zubeen Garg, returned to Assam on Thursday, officials said.

CID Special DGP Munna Prasad Gupta and Titabor Co-District SP Tarun Goel had gone to Singapore on Monday.

“The team returned to Guwahati today. They visited all the places linked to the case and also met many people,” a senior official said.

He, however, declined to share details, stating that Gupta is scheduled to address a press meet on Friday to brief about the Singapore part of the investigation.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Assam Police is currently probing Garg’s death case after more than 60 FIRs were lodged across the state.

Gupta is heading the SIT, while Goel is a member of the nine-member group.

Another official said the two SIT members visited the “place of occurrence where Garg had breathed his last”.

“The Assam Police team also met with their counterparts in Singapore and discussed the case,” he said.

The celebrated singer died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore on September 19 while swimming in the sea. He had gone to the Southeast Asian nation to attend the 4th edition of the North East India Festival.

The Indian government had earlier invoked the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Singapore, seeking cooperation in the investigation into the death of the singer in the Southeast Asian country.

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is also carrying out an independent investigation into the incident of Garg’s alleged drowning at sea.

In a statement on October 17, the SPF said that the preliminary investigations have not indicated any foul play in Garg’s death.

It also said that the investigation may take up to another three months, after which the findings will be submitted to the State Coroner for further proceedings.

The Assam Police has interrogated 10 Assamese expats from Singapore out of 11, against whom summonses were issued, while the remaining one is a citizen of the Southeast Asian nation.

A yacht was booked by a few office bearers of the Assam Association Singapore, and these 11 people were present when Garg allegedly drowned in the sea.

Earlier, North East India Festival chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, the singer’s manager Siddharth Sharma, and his two band members — Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amrit Prabha Mahanta — were apprehended.

Later, Garg’s cousin and Assam Police DSP Sandipan Garg was arrested.

Garg’s PSOs, Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya, were also arrested after police found huge financial transactions, worth over Rs 1.1 crore, in their accounts.

All seven arrested people are now in judicial custody. They were booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy and causing death by negligence.