SIT constituted to probe Zubeen Garg’s death as Assam mourns

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma assured the public on X that the case would be thoroughly investigated, adding, “We will not spare anyone.” The SIT will be headed by CID ADG MP Gupta, who has been given “full freedom to investigate the case,” the chief minister informed.

Viscera collected from a second autopsy will be examined at Central Forensic Laboratory in New Delhi to help determine the cause of death.

Advertisement

As the exact cause of Zubeen’s death is yet to be confirmed, it is suspected that he may have suffered an epileptic seizure, a condition he had been battling for the past five years. He was swimming without a life jacket at the time of the incident.

Zubeen Garg, a cultural icon in Assam, passed away just a day before his scheduled performance in Singapore.Garg was cremated at his native Kamarkuchi in Sonapur on September 23, on the outskirts of Guwahati. A day earlier, thousands of fans, along with dignitaries including Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, singer Papon, and a representative of the King of Bhutan, paid their last respects at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium.

While the Assam CID is handling the investigation, there are growing demands for a central inquiry. Debabrata Saikia, the Leader of Opposition in Assam, has written to President Droupadi Murmu, calling for a CBI investigation monitored by a sitting or retired judge from the Gauhati High Court. Saikia highlighted the cross-border nature of the incident and argued that incident poses “serious jurisdictional limitations” that state police cannot address without central and international cooperation.

In his letter, Saikia also flagged what he termed “suspicious circumstances” surrounding the death. He alleged that Garg had confided to close associates about being under “significant pressure” to travel to Singapore, breaking from his usual practice of being accompanied by family or a larger entourage. Saikia also questioned the role of festival organizer Shyamkanu Mahanta, who initially promoted Garg’s performance but later claimed that the singer had traveled “only to rest.”

Saikia further raised concerns about why Garg, despite his known history of seizures, was reportedly encouraged to swim without a life jacket during a yacht outing. Calling this “an act of recklessness,” he suggested the possibility of foul play. “The coercion before travel, isolation without family, contradictions by organisers, and exploitation of his medical vulnerability all point towards a calculated elimination,” his letter stated.

The Congress leader also linked Garg’s death to his political outspokenness, recalling the singer’s vocal opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Saikia argued that Garg’s cultural influence, combined with his defiance during the anti-CAA movement, made him a “potential target for elimination.”

Zubeen Garg’s untimely passing has left Assam in deep mourning. His funeral drew lakhs of grieving fans, many of whom continue to demand a full and impartial probe. For Saikia and others, only a central agency under judicial oversight can provide answers to the questions surrounding the loss of an artist whose voice defined a generation.