- Zubeen Garg's cousin, Sandipan Garg, has been arrested amid a probe into the singer's mysterious death case
- Sandipan Garg had accompanied his celebrity cousin to Singapore. It was his first foreign trip
- He was also present at the yacht party, during which the Assamese icon was found dead
Zubeen Garg's cousin, who had travelled with him to Singapore, has been arrested by the Assam Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) amid a probe into the singer's mysterious drowning death. Sandipan Garg, a deputy superintendent in the Assam Police Service, is the fifth person arrested, a senior officer told NDTV. All accused have been charged with murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy, and causing death by negligence in connection with his death probe.
Sandipan Garg was presented before a local court this morning and sent to seven-day police custody. The SIT had asked for 14 days.
Garima Garg, Zubeen's wife, said she had faith in the judicial system and believed that the investigation will provide them with "some answers".
"I also saw on social media this morning that Sandipan was called for some questioning, and later he was arrested. Maybe the authorities found some clue in his statement. The investigation is ongoing, and I cannot comment much on it. Whatever the law permits, the process will take its own course. We, as family members, along with the rest of Assam and all of Zubeen Garg's fans, are patiently waiting for the results. We have faith in the Indian legal and judicial system, and I believe they will take the right path and provide us with some answers soon," said the late singer's wife.
"When Sandeepan expressed his wish to accompany Zubeen abroad, something he had never done before, Zubeen was very happy to take him along," she added.
Zubeen Garg died on September 19 during his trip to Singapore for the North East India Festival. The 52-year-old had gone for a swim at a yacht party and was found floating face down in the water.
Sandipan had accompanied Zubeen for what was the police officer's first foreign trip. He was present at the yacht party and had brought back to the country some of the singer's belongings after his death. In a recent Facebook post, he had said he fully cooperated with the SIT.
He was arrested after being interrogated for five days, officials said.
On being asked why he hasn't been suspended from the police, Munna Gupta, the Special Director General of Police of Assam's CID, who is heading the SIT, said that he was arrested today and that further action will be taken by the concerned department.
The police had on October 2 arrested Zubeen's bandmate, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, and co-singer Amritprava Mahanta. Both were present at the yacht party. Goswami was seen swimming very close to the late singer while Mahanta was recording them on her mobile phone, sources had earlier said.
Two others, Zubeen Garg's manager Siddharth Sharma and North East India Festival manager Shyamkanu Mahanta, were arrested a day earlier, on October 2.
