Guwahati: Assam’s special investigating team (SIT) looking into the death of singer-composer Zubeen Garg on Thursday picked up musician Shekhar Jyoti Goswami for questioning. Goswami was reportedly on the Singapore yacht trip with the 51-year-old artist, but police have not yet issued an official statement on his detention.
The SIT also raided the Guwahati residences of Garg’s manager, Siddhartha Sharma, in Dhirenpara and Northeast India Festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta in Geetanagar. Neither was found at home.
Tension flared outside Sharma’s apartment complex when a crowd pelted stones at police vehicles escorting the SIT. Officers carried out a brief lathicharge and detained two people accused of inciting the mob, news agency PTI reported.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he would ask for a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry if the SIT’s work proved “unsatisfactory.” He added that everyone who accompanied Garg to Singapore including Assam Association members and festival organisers will be questioned, and urged the public to avoid spreading rumours online.
Garg, famed for the Gangster track “Ya Ali,” had travelled to Singapore for the Northeast India Festival. He drowned during a yacht swim on 19 September. A post-mortem conducted there, followed by a second autopsy in Assam, confirmed drowning as the cause of death. The state government has set up a 10-member SIT to investigate any lapses or foul play and performed Garg’s last rites with full state honours on Tuesday.
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