Over a week since Assamese singer Zubeen Garg’s death in Singapore, his fans are growing restless, seeking answers. They reportedly stormed the residence of Siddhartha Sharma, Zubeen Garg’s manager and threw stones a police vehicles during a raid there on Thursday.
Besides, a devoted fan of the singer, distressed by his death, reportedly jumped off a bridge in Guwahati.
The popular Assamese singer’s angry fans are seeking arrest of both Siddhartha Sharma and Shyamkanu Mahanta, the organiser of the Northeast India Festival, that Zubeen Garg was in Singapore for.
The Assam Police’s Special Investigating Team (SIT), formed the probe the case, conducted separate raids at Mahanta and Sharma’s homes in Assam, during which a huge crowd gathered outside.
Here are top developments in the Zubeen Garg death probe:
- The Assam Police detained a musician who reportedly accompanied Zubeen Garg on his yacht trip in Singapore, after which the singer drowned. Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, the musician detained, is reportedly a long-time band member of Garg. His Instagram bio describes him as ‘Sound Engineer, Music Producer, Arranger, Musician, Computer Hardware Engineer’.
- Two separate SIT teams visited the residences of Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddhartha Sharma on Thursday and were met with huge crowds in both places. During a raid at Sharma’s residence, Zubeen Garg’s supporters threw stones at a police vehicle after which police baton-charged them, reported news agency PTI.
- Both Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddhartha Sharma were not found at their homes during the raids. Zubeen Garg’s manager’s mother, brother and sister also lived in the apartment, but haven’t been seen since the singer died. Meanwhile, locals also vowed to not to allow the North East India Festival’s organiser and his family to live at their Assam residence.
- According to an India Today report, a fan saddened by Zubeen Garg’s death jumped off a bridge in Guwahati after he shouted “When Zubeen Da is not here, what will we do? Joi Zubeen Da!”. Onlookers stood shocked at Guwahati’s Saraighat Bridge and the SDRF later launched a rescue op, the publication said.
- Zubeen Garg died on September 19 in Singapore, where he was scheduled to perform. His death certificate from a hospital in Singapore says he drowned, but Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said a postmortem will reveal more details in his death.
- Himanta Biswa Sarma has also assured that the CBI would probe the singer’s death in case the SIT probe is found to be unsatisfactory. “We have to keep patience and let the SIT investigate. We will wait for their report and if this turns out to be unsatisfactory, we can definitely go for a CBI enquiry. But for now, I would suggest all Zubeen fans to have patience,” Sarma said.