New Delhi: The sessions court in Guwahati which is hearing the case of Zubeen Garg’s death, has refused bail to fellow musician Amritprava Mahanta, who is also an accused in the case. The musician is charged with murder, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust. The court refused to grant her bail.
In her bail plea she argued that she was forced to share a room with the popular singer, against her will. This has however been contested by the Assam Police.
Mahanta was on yatch with Zubeen Garg
Mahanta was on the yatch with Zubeen Garg on the day of his death. The court said that the offences that the musician is accused of are punishable by either death or life imprisonment and in such cases bail was not the norm. It rejected her bail plea.
The court further said that the prosecution’s arguments prove that Mahanta was a co-conspirator in the case, along with the prime accused. They said that she was also actively involved in the conspiracy which facilitated the death of Zubeen Garg in Singapore.
Mahanta is one of the 4 people charged with the death of singer Zubeen Garg. The popular Assamese singer died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore. He was in Singapore to take part in the North East India Festival and was set to perform there. But before the performance, the group decided to take part in a fun yatch ride and Garg reportedly jumped in to swim. However he was not wearing a life jacket and a little while later was found unresponsive in the water. Later the doctors in Singapore declared him dead.
Apart from Mahanta, the others who are charged in the death case of Garg are, Northeast India Festival Singapore organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma, and another co-musician, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami. Apart from them a cousin of the singer, Sandipan Garg has also been charged for culpable homicide.
When Garg went on the yatch ride, where he was taken to by members of the Assam Association Singapore. Amritprava Mahanta, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, Siddhartha Sharma and Sandipan Garg were on the yacht with Garg.
Garg stopped responding after having jumped into the water without a life jacket. When he was taken to the hospital in Singapore, doctors found unusually high levels of alcohol in his blood. His death was attributed to drowning.
Forced to share room with Zubeen Garg: Mahanta
Mahanta’s lawyer said that his client had performed with Garg across Assam and outside it, and had accompanied him to Singapore for the festival at his request, and that he was a “fatherly figure” to the 29-year-old. They said that after reaching Singapore, Mahanta came to know that she had been allotted the same room as Garg and in a foreign country, she was in no position to protest.
The lawyer further said that she was forced to stay in the room for the night, as there was no other arrangement. The lawyer claimed that Mahanta did not even know about the planned yatch ride, till the previous night. He further said that she did not have any role in the visit to Singapore or the yatch ride. In fact, according to the lawyer, his client tried her best to revive Garg, after he lost consciousness on the boat.
He further argued that the chargesheet in the case had already been submitted and that the prosecution has failed to explain the role of the accused person and in which manner, she has conspired with other co-accused in connection with the death of Zubeen Garg. He said that she did not stop the singer from swimming, but “omission” was in no manner a criminal offence.
Prosecutions arguments
But the prosecution objected to the defence counsel’s arguments. They said that Mahanta was fully aware about the accommodation arrangements in Singapore. She was also aware of the planned yatch ride.
The SSP investigating the case said that the cause of death might be drowning, but it was the circumstances which led Garg to drown, which are the topic of discussion here. According to the officer it is these circumstances which actually highlight the criminal conspiracy charge against the accused persons.
The SP argued that Mahanta had hatched a conspiracy against Garg and agreed to share the hotel room with him. As per plan, she continuously fed alcohol to him the night before the yatch ride. He was reportedly fed Black and White Whiskey provided by accused Shyam Kanu Mahanta. He further said that during the yatch ride, Mahanta had not informed anybody on the yatch as to how much alcohol the singer had consumed the previous night. The level of alcohol in his body had made him completely incapacitated to swim in the sea.
The SSP termed the offence committed by the accused person as “heinous” and said that it could have a serious impact on the society. He therefore prayed to the court to not grant bail to the accused. Garima Garg, the wife of the late singer had also filed written objections to the bail petitions of the accused persons. In her plea she described the allegation against the accused persons as serious and grave in nature involving commission of heinous offence effecting public order and safety which carries severe punishment and which is non-bailable.