Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sandipan Garg, who is also the cousin of late singer Zubeen Garg, was arrested on Wednesday following questioning by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the mysterious death of the celebrated Assamese musician.
The arrest came shortly after Sandipan appeared before the CID office in Guwahati for interrogation. He is expected to be produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court later in the day.
Sandipan Garg was among those present on the yacht in Singapore where Zubeen Garg lost his life under circumstances that have since sparked widespread speculation and public outrage.
Earlier this week, he had written on his official Facebook page that he had “fully cooperated with the SIT” after a marathon interrogation session. However, officials said inconsistencies in his statements and new leads emerging from digital and financial trails prompted his arrest.
The case has taken a dramatic turn over the past week with multiple arrests linked to the incident. On October 1, the SIT took into custody Zubeen’s long-time manager Siddharth Sharma and festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, who had arranged the Singapore event that the singer attended.
Both were booked on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Two other individuals—musician Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and singer Amritprabha Mahanta—were later arrested and remanded to 14-day police custody.
Investigators are now examining possible foul play and have widened their inquiry to include financial irregularities and communication records of all those aboard the yacht.
Reports suggest that around Rs 1 crore was moved through the accounts of Zubeen Garg’s personal security officers, a revelation that has intensified scrutiny on the case.
In response to mounting public pressure, the Assam government has set up a judicial commission headed by Justice Soumitra Saikia of the Gauhati High Court to conduct an independent probe into the circumstances surrounding the singer’s death.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government would ensure a transparent and impartial investigation, assuring the people that “no one, regardless of position or relation, will be spared if found guilty.”
Meanwhile, Zubeen’s wife, Garima Saikia Garg, has emerged as a steady yet emotional voice throughout the unfolding investigation. Earlier this week, she returned the post-mortem report of her husband to the police, saying that it should no longer remain a personal document and that investigators were best positioned to decide on its public release.
Garima has said she has full faith in the ongoing investigation and hopes that a “watertight probe” will bring out the truth.
In recent statements, she expressed doubts over the chain of events leading to Zubeen’s death, revealing that the singer was on medication and suggesting that he might have been taken against his will.
“Maybe he was forcefully taken,” she had remarked in an earlier interview, while calling for a thorough investigation into the role of those who accompanied him to Singapore.
As the SIT continues to piece together the events that led to the singer’s death, the case has shaken Assam’s cultural landscape and gripped the nation’s attention.