The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee on Saturday claimed that the SIT chargesheet in the Zubeen Garg death case was a “casual and responsibility-shirking document” filed “only to silence public outrage” over the untimely death of the popular artiste.
The special investigation team (SIT) of the Assam police on Friday submitted a voluminous chargesheet, invoking murder charge against four of the seven arrested accused — Shyamkanu Mahanta, Siddharth Sharma, Shekharjyoti Goswami and Amrit Prabha Mahanta.
Sandipan Garg, Zubeen’s cousin and a police official, has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder while two of the singer’s personal security officers — Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya — have been charged with financial
irregularities.
The popular 52-year-old singer-composer died in Singapore while swimming during a yacht outing on
September 19.
Senior Congress leader Ripun Bora said in Guwahati that the chargesheet in the Zubeen Garg case appears to be a “casual and responsibility-shirking
document”.
The main chargesheet runs into 2,500 pages and related documents total about 12,000 pages.
“Merely adding sections… to the chargesheet, or attaching hotel bills, airline tickets, and taxi receipts do not prove a murder case,”
Bora said.
“Such documents only create an illusion of seriousness. What is required are concrete proof, witnesses to substantiate the claims, and seizure of the instruments used in
the crime.”
He added: “People across Assam have been demanding justice for Zubeen Garg. To silence public outrage and to create an impression that the government is not accountable, the chargesheet has been filed. The government has submitted a chargesheet simply to escape responsibility, following a policy which, in colloquial terms, can be described as ‘killing the snake without breaking
the stick’.”
Bora further alleged that the Himanta Biswa Sarma government and the BJP have “attempted to push the entire responsibility onto the court through the
chargesheet”
“This chargesheet has been filed with the sole intention of allowing the government and the chief minister to say that their responsibility is over and the rest is up to the court,” he said.