Will Zubeen Garg death probe hit a roadblock? ‘Assam Police can’t go to Singapore,’ says CM Sarma

As conspiracy theories fly thick and fast over singer-composer Zubeen Garg’s death in Singapore last month, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday expressed concern over the non-cooperation of certain individuals in the probe.

Speaking to reporters in Guwahati, Sarma said the state police cannot travel to Singapore to conduct the investigation.

"Today, we are more concerned about whether the Assamese people currently in Singapore will return to cooperate with the investigation. If they do not come, we cannot complete the investigation. They were key individuals involved in Zubeen Garg's yacht travel. The people of Assam should pressure the Assamese community in Singapore to ensure their return,” the chief minister said.

Garg died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore while swimming in the sea on September 19. The singer had gone to the Southeast Asian nation to attend the 4th edition of the NorthEast India Festival, organised by Shyamkanu Mahanta and his company.

The Assam CID, which is currently probing the case, has issued notices to some members of the Assam Association in Singapore to present themselves before it by October 6. The CM said a few of them have already written to the investigators that they cannot come due to some problems. 

"Assam Police cannot go to Singapore, so it cannot take up the investigation there. They are in Singapore, and it is not under my jurisdiction. Unless they come there, nobody will be able to join the dots," Sarma said after meeting Garg’s family in the state capital.

"If they don't come by October 6, we will have to enter another cycle," he said. The CM, however, did not elaborate on what measures the investigation team would adopt if such a situation arose.

‘Viscera report by Oct 10’

Meanwhile, providing an update on the ongoing investigation, the chief minister said the viscera examination report of Garg will be available by October 10. 

He also said the police’s duty is to record everything in the case diary, as stated by the witnesses. 

“These are not police statements; they are only witness statements. A witness's statement is not a police statement. The news about poisoning published today is not a police statement; it is a statement from an accused. Whether he gave this statement to protect himself or to blame someone else will be revealed during the investigation," Sarma said. 

Garg’s bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, one of the four arrested persons, had made a sensational allegation last week that the singer might have been poisoned by his manager Siddharth Sharma and festival organiser Mahanta. He told investigators that Sharma's conduct in the hours leading up to Garg's death in Singapore was suspicious.