GUWAHATI, Oct 3— Assam Police on Thursday arrested musician Shakharjyoti Goswami and singer Amritprabha Mahanta in connection with the death of renowned singer Zubeen Garg, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to four.
Both Goswami and Mahanta were present at the scene when Garg’s death occurred and were initially called in for interrogation before being formally taken into custody, officials said.
“We have found some evidence against them. So, to enquire further, their arrest was necessary,” a police officer said.
Earlier, Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma and festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta were arrested on Wednesday and booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy, and causing death by negligence. Special DGP of Assam Police’s CID, Munna Prasad Gupta, said both were remanded to 14-day police custody, and their interrogation is ongoing.
“The investigation is going on, and I cannot share much detail. We have added Section 103 of the BNS in the FIR,” Gupta said, referring to the section that prescribes punishment for murder, including death or life imprisonment and fines.
Shyamkanu Mahanta is the younger brother of former DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, currently Chief Information Commissioner of the Assam State Information Commission. His elder brother, Nani Gopal Mahanta, was Education Advisor to CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and now serves as vice-chancellor of Gauhati University.
The CID is investigating Garg’s death after over 60 FIRs were lodged across Assam against Mahanta and nearly 10 others, including the singer’s manager, Sharma. The investigation centers around the Northeast India Festival in Singapore, which Garg had attended on September 19.
Garg died under mysterious circumstances while swimming in Singapore during the festival. Gupta said the autopsy report from Singapore will be handed to Garg’s family once formalities are complete.
“The Singaporean authorities also conducted their investigation. The autopsy report will be directly shared with the family as per protocol. As per our information, they have already contacted Garg’s family and will share the report soon,” he said.
Regarding the second post-mortem in Guwahati, Gupta noted that the report on viscera samples sent to the Central Forensic Laboratory in Delhi is pending. “Once the viscera report is received, I guess the post-mortem report by the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital will be ready and available to us,” he added.
Assam Police have formed a nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case. Gupta said a team will travel to Singapore to collect further evidence once official approval from that country is obtained.
