NEW DELHI: The Assam government has constituted a judicial commission to investigate the mysterious death of celebrated singer and cultural icon Zubeen Garg, who died on September 19 while swimming in the sea in Singapore during an official visit for a cultural festival.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while addressing the public via Facebook Live on Friday evening (October 3), revealed that the commission would be headed by Justice Soumitra Saikia of the Gauhati High Court. An official notification regarding the constitution of a one-man judicial commission was announced on Saturday (October 4).
Appealing for public cooperation, Chief Minister Sarma urged individuals possessing any information, video footage, or materials related to Garg’s death to come forward and testify before the commission. “People who have shared any content on social media—YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X—have a responsibility to submit affidavits with the commission,” he said.
Garg was in Singapore to perform at the North East India Festival, organised by Shyamkanu Mahanta and his firm Trend MMS. Mahanta is now a prime accused in the case, which has seen over 60 FIRs lodged against him and nearly 10 associates across Assam.
The state CID is currently spearheading the investigation and has already made four arrests. On Friday (October 3) a court in Assam sent two of Garg’s band members—drummer Shekharjyoti Goswami and co-singer Amritprabha Mahanta—to 14 days of police custody. Both were reportedly present on the yacht in Singapore when Garg drowned.
Earlier, Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma and festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta were arrested in Delhi and charged with murder. They too have been remanded to 14 days in CID custody.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax (I-T) Department are reportedly considering joining the CID probe into financial crimes allegedly linked to Mahanta. According to sources, officials from both agencies have already visited the CID headquarters to review evidence suggesting large-scale financial irregularities.
During raids conducted on September 25-26, the CID reportedly seized numerous incriminating documents from Mahanta’s residence, including multiple PAN cards registered under the same company, nearly 30 stamps linked to various firms and government departments, and documents pointing to several benami (proxy) properties.
A senior CID official revealed that investigators have uncovered potential financial fraud dating back over two decades, when Mahanta served as assistant general manager at the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi). Allegedly, Mahanta, along with two other senior officials, facilitated loans totalling Rs 14 crore to a company named DSS E-Connect Ltd for call centres that were never established. Of the total loan, Rs 8.42 crore was disbursed in 2001 and another Rs 6 crore in 2003. No repayments were ever made, and the loan was classified as a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) by March 2003. Although an internal investigation was launched in 2004, it was never completed, and Mahanta resigned later that year to join IL&FS as vice president before eventually setting up his own event management company.
As investigations continue, three more members of the event organising team—Pankaj Adhikari, Pritam Talukdar, and Krishanu Das—were summoned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for questioning on Friday.
The CM also confirmed that the post-mortem report conducted in Singapore has been handed over to Garg’s wife, Garima, and that a second autopsy was conducted at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). The report of the GMCH autopsy is expected to be given to the family shortly. “It is entirely Garima’s decision whether to make the post-mortem reports public,” Sarma said. Garima, who recorded her statement before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, told reporters, “We need justice as soon as possible. I want to know what exactly happened that we lost him. We will fully cooperate with the law”.
Chief Minister Sarma also issued an appeal to the Assam Association of Singapore, asking its members who were present during Garg’s final moments to come forward and provide statements. He warned that the government would be compelled to take legal action if they failed to cooperate.
