Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday announced that he has directed the state’s director general of police to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the death of cultural icon Zubeen Garg in Singapore last week.
Garg, who passed away while swimming in the sea on September 19, had gone to Singapore to perform at the Northeast India Festival.
The Criminal Investigation Department of Assam Police is investigating the case after more than 60 FIRs were lodged across the state against the festival organisers.
The chief minister said that the SIT would be composed of the best officers from Assam Police and would have full autonomy to conduct the probe.
He also confirmed that viscera samples from the singer’s body would be sent to the Central Forensic Laboratory in Delhi for detailed analysis.
A second postmortem of Garg was conducted on Tuesday morning at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital following public demand.
The singer was cremated on the outskirts of Guwahati with state honours.
The opposition in Assam has called for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe, citing jurisdictional limitations and potential foul play.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia wrote to President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday requesting a CBI investigation supervised by a high court judge.
In his letter, Saikia raised concerns over the circumstances of Garg’s death and pointed to evidence suggesting coercion in the singer’s travel to Singapore.
He noted that Garg had confided to close associates that he was pressured to attend the event with limited companions, disrupting his usual travel pattern and reducing oversight and witness presence.
Saikia also questioned the statements of the chief organiser of the Northeast India Festival, Shyamkanu Mahanta, calling them contradictory and indicative of either deliberate deception or negligence.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Assam government barred Mahanta from organising any events in the state.
Mahanta is the younger brother of former DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, who is now the Chief Information Commissioner of Assam, while another elder brother, Nani Gopal Mahanta, previously served as Education Advisor to the chief minister before becoming vice chancellor of Gauhati University.
Highlighting the complexities of a death on foreign soil and potential medical vulnerabilities, Saikia said the case required the highest level of investigative oversight.
He said the incident might represent the systematic elimination of a fearless voice and demanded judicial supervision to ensure transparency and public confidence.
Assam Jatiya Parishad and Raijor Dal have stated in separate news communiques that they want a CBI probe into the incident to find the actual cause of Garg's death.
AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi said that the state CID’s mandate is limited, as only the CBI can operate on foreign soil, and urged the Assam government to hand over the case to the central agency.
