‘Zubeen Garg was intoxicated, refused life jacket’: Singapore court told ‘no foul play’ in singer’s death

Prominent Assamese singer Zubeen Garg was “severely intoxicated” and drowned in the waters off Lazarus Island after declining a life jacket, the Singapore police told a local court on Wednesday.

The singer had died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore during a yacht party on September 19 last year. However, according to a report by the CNA news website, Singapore police told the court that they do not suspect any foul play in Garg’s death.

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The chief investigating officer told the court that Garg initially wore a life jacket but removed it, and that when he was offered a second one, he declined.

“At the time, he was also severely intoxicated and several witnesses saw him trying to swim back to the yacht when he went limp and began floating with his face in the water,” CNA reported.

The investigating officer also informed the court that Garg had a medical history of hypertension and epilepsy. It was not clear if he had taken his regular medication for epilepsy on the day of the incident.

Following his death, the Assam government ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe and arrested several individuals, including the singer’s cousin.

Last month, the SIT filed its chargesheet in the case at the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Guwahati.

In the 3,500-page charge sheet, the SIT has charged four people, including the organiser of the festival in Singapore, Shyamkanu Mahanta, with murder.

Zubeen Garg death probe: SIT submits 3,500-page charge sheet

Siddhartha Sharma, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, and Amritprava Mahanta are the three other associates of the late singer who have been charged with murder.

Garg’s cousin and suspended police officer Sandipan Garg have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the SIT charge sheet.

The charge sheet in Zubeen Garg’s death case has named a total of seven suspects. While four of them have been charged with murder, others face charges of abetment, culpable homicide, and breach of trust.