Assam Police have charged singer Zubeen Garg manager, Siddharth Sharma, and North East India Festival organizer, Shyamkanu Mahanta, with murder related to the singer’s death in Singapore last month, according to a report.
The two men arrested in Delhi late Tuesday night. They flown to Guwahati under police escort and presented before a magistrate’s residence early Wednesday morning. They have been remanded to 14 days in police custody for questioning.
Police confirm new murder charges on Zubeen Garg manager
Special DGP (CID) Munna Prasad Gupta, who leads the special investigation team (SIT), confirmed on Thursday that new charges have added to the case. “We have added Section 103 of the BNS in the FIR now. The investigation is ongoing, and I cannot share much detail,” Gupta told PTI. Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita outlines the punishment for murder, which may include death, life imprisonment, or a fine.
Previously, Sharma and Mahanta were facing charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, conspiracy, and causing death by negligence.
What behind sudden death of Garg
The 10-member SIT has been investigating various angles since Zubeen Garg sudden death in Singapore on September 19. The 52-year-old singer, a beloved cultural icon in Assam, reportedly drowned at Lazarus Island, though there are conflicting accounts. His wife, Garima Saikia, said that he suffered a seizure while swimming and rejected any suggestions of a scuba diving accident. Singapore authorities attributed the cause of death to drowning in their autopsy, but a second post-mortem conducted in Assam following widespread protests and allegations of foul play.
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