Assam: Bandmate Alleges Zubeen Garg Was Poisoned, SIT Probes Conspiracy Angle

In a dramatic twist to the probe into the death of Assam’s cultural icon and singer Zubeen Garg, his bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami has alleged that Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma and festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta allegedly poisoned the singer and conspired to cover up his death as an accident.

According to Goswami’s testimony recorded under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), Sharma’s conduct in the hours leading up to Garg’s death in Singapore was “deeply suspicious.” Sharma, already named in the FIR, is facing serious non-bailable charges including criminal conspiracy, murder, and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Goswami recounted that both he and Sharma were staying with Zubeen at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore during the ill-fated trip. On the day of the tragedy, Sharma allegedly forcibly took control of the yacht from its sailor, causing it to wobble dangerously in mid-sea and putting passengers at risk.

Further, Goswami stated that Sharma told an Assam Association (Singapore) member not to arrange drinks, insisting that “he alone would supply them.” Goswami has alleged this was part of the poisoning conspiracy.

Most damningly, Goswami told investigators that during the critical moments when Garg was struggling in the water and gasping for breath, Sharma was heard shouting: “Jabo de, jabo de” (“let him go, let him go”).

He stressed that Garg, a trained swimmer who had even coached both Goswami and Sharma, could not have drowned accidentally. This, he argued, reinforced suspicions of deliberate foul play.

The SIT, headed by Special DGP Munna Prasad Gupta, is investigating the new allegations and has added fresh sections under BNS to cover conspiracy and possible murder. Mahanta and Sharma, both detained and under interrogation, have denied the allegations.

The Assam government has already constituted a One-Man Commission of Inquiry under Justice Soumitra Saikia of Gauhati High Court to look into the circumstances of Garg’s death, with a report expected within six months.

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