Singapore-Based NRI, Part Of Yacht Party, Joins Zubeen Garg Death Probe

A Singapore-based NRI, Rup Kamal Kalita, who was present on the yacht when singer Zubeen Garg died, has joined the investigation into the death of the Assamese icon on Tuesday - a day after the summon deadline by Assam's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) ended. According to officials, Kalita was questioned at the CID headquarters in Guwahati.

Kalita is originally from Assam, officials said.

The probe authorities had asked eight Singapore-based NRIs to report by October 6 through the Indian High Commission. Later, they also sent a summons to three more NRIs who were present on the yacht. However, none except Kalita have reported to the investigators, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The 52-year-old singer had gone for a swim in the sea in Singapore during the yacht party last month when he was found dead - floating face down in the water. He was in Singapore to attend the three-day North East India Festival that was scheduled to begin on September 20. It was, however, cancelled after the singer's death.

Weeks after the incident, Zubeen Garg's manager, Siddhartha Sharma, and the North East India Festival (NEIF) chief organiser, Shyamkanu Mahanta, were arrested for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy, and causing death by negligence. While Mahanta was arrested on his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi from Singapore, Sharma was arrested from an apartment in Gurugram.

In a twist to the case, Garg's bandmate, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, alleged that his manager and the festival organiser may have poisoned him and conspired to cover up his death as accidental.

Investigation also revealed a transaction of Rs 1 crore in the bank accounts of the singer's two personal security officers (PSOs).

The singer's Adya Sharaddha, the ritual done 13 days after the death of a person, was held last week in Assam's Jorhat - from where he started his musical journey. Thousands of people turned up to pay their respects, with the state government making strict arrangements for crowd safety and management. While the government had initially planned to distribute Garg's ashes to his fans, it is now coordinating with his family to immerse the ashes in the Brahmaputra River, sources said.