Zubeen Garg death: Two of singer’s personal security officers arrested
The two men had been suspended by the police on Tuesday after several rounds of questioning.
The Assam Police on Friday arrested two of singer Zubeen Garg’s personal security officers in connection with his death by drowning during a yacht trip in Singapore last month, PTI reported.
This took the total arrests in the investigation being conducted into the singer’s death to seven.
Unidentified officials told PTI that the two officers – Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya – had been deputed by the state government as part of Garg’s security detail in 2013. The two men had been suspended by the police on Tuesday after several rounds of questioning, the officials added.
Garg, a renowned Assamese singer, died on September 19 during a yacht trip, a day before he was scheduled to perform at the North East India Festival in Singapore.
The event had been organised by the Indian government and the Indian High Commission in Singapore, with support from the Assam Association and the North East India Association in the country.
A death certificate issued by the Singaporean authorities on September 20 stated the cause of Garg’s death as drowning.
On October 1, the Singapore Police Force told The Straits Times that it had sent the Indian High Commission a copy of Zubeen Garg’s autopsy report and preliminary findings on his death.
The force, which comes under the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs, had earlier ruled out foul play.
The Assam Police had formed a Special Investigation Team, led by Special Director General of Police MP Gupta, to look into the case lodged by its Criminal Investigation Department in the matter.
On Friday, Gupta said that the arrested personnel had been presented before the chief judicial magistrate court, reported ANI.
The two had been under the scanner when the Special Investigation Team probing Garg’s death detected “irregular financial transactions, much above their known salary income” in their bank accounts, unidentified officials told The Indian Express.
While Rs 70 lakh was found in one of the security officers’ accounts, Rs 40 lakh was found in the other’s.
Their arrest on Friday came two days after the police arrested Garg’s cousin, Deputy Superintendent of Police Sandipan Garg, who had travelled with him to Singapore. Police officials said that Sandipan Garg was arrested after being questioned for five days.
He had accompanied the singer on the yacht trip and had also brought back some of Zubeen Garg’s belongings to India after his death.
On October 3, the police arrested two musicians, Shekharjyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta, who had travelled with Zubeen Garg to Singapore and were scheduled to perform at the festival as well.
Earlier that day, the police had charged Zubeen Garg’s manager, Siddharatha Sharma, and North East India Festival organiser, Shyamkanu Mahanta, under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita section pertaining to murder.
Sharma and Mahant were arrested on October 1 and remanded to 14 days’ police custody.
They were earlier booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita pertaining to criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and causing death by negligence.
More than 50 first information reports had been filed against Sharma and Mahanta after the singer’s death.
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