Popular singer Zubeen Garg, a cultural icon of Assam and the North-East of India, died in an accident in Singapore on September 19. He was 52. While initial reports suggested that he died in a scuba diving accident, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma later told the media that he was swimming without a life jacket and fell unconscious.
On Sunday, during a media interaction, Sarma said that the cause of the singer's death is drowning, according to the death certificate issued by the Singapore High Commission. However, the Assam government is trying to procure the post-mortem report as soon as possible.
"The Singapore High Commission sent the death certificate of Zubeen Garg, and they mentioned the cause of death is drowning," the Assam Chief Minister said.
"But this is not a post-mortem report. The post-mortem report is different, and the death certificate is different. We will send the documents to CID. The Chief Secretary of the Assam Government is contacting the Singapore Ambassador to get the post-mortem report as soon as possible," he added.
On Sunday morning, Zubeen Garg's body was flown from Delhi to Guwahati, after arriving in India from Singapore on Saturday. Thousands of grieving fans assembled in Guwahati to pay their last respects to the Assamese icon. The procession is reportedly one of the biggest for an artiste (after his death) in recent times.
Zubeen Garg's body is currently kept at Guwahati's Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex for his fans and well-wishers to pay their tributes before his funeral.
On Sunday, the Assam CM announced that the final rites of the singer will be held at Kamarkuchi village on Tuesday at around 8 am. He told the media, "We will carry the mortal remains of Zubeen Garg from Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex at around 8 am on September 23 to the location of Kamarkuchi, where the last rites will be conducted. A state funeral will be held on September 23."
Zubeen Garg was in Singapore to attend the North East India Festival. He was scheduled to perform on September 20 and September 21. In his career spanning over 30 years, he sang in 40 languages, including Bengali, Hindi, and his mother tongue Assamese. He shot to nationwide fame with the iconic song Ya Ali from Emraan Hashmi and Kangana Ranaut's Gangster (2006).
