Guwahati (Assam)
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing into the death of singer Zubeen Garg, on Friday charged four accused – Shyamkanu Mahanta, Siddhartha Sharma, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta – with murder in its chargesheet filed in a Guwahati court.
Shyamkanu Mahanta was the chief organiser of the North East India Festival, which was attended by Garg in Singapore, where he died under mysterious circumstances while swimming in the sea on September 19.
Garg's cousin and suspended Assam Police officer Sandipan Garg has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the chargsheet submitted at the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court earlier in the day, lawyers said.
Sharma was the singer’s secretary, while Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta were members of Garg’s band.
The singer's two personal security officers (PSOs) Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya have been charged under Section 31c of the BNS, which deals with criminal breach of trust by misappropriating funds or property entrusted to them, the lawyers said.
The Assam government had constituted the SIT, led by Special DGP M P Gupta, to investigate into the singer's death.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had claimed in the recently concluded assembly session that Garg's death was ''plain and simple murder''.
The Singapore Police Force (SPF), carrying out an independent investigation into Garg's death, had said in a statement that preliminary probe has not indicated any foul play, and that the investigations may take up to another three months.
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