Police personnel try to stop as protestors are enraged over the shifting of five accused in connection with the death of Late singer Zubeen Garg to the newly-constructed prison at Mushalpur, in Baksa on October 15, 2025. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
GUWAHATI
The Singapore police authorities will on Tuesday (October 21, 2025) meet the members of Assam’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was formed to probe the mysterious death of singer-composer Zubeen Garg in the island country.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that the SIT members led by Additional Director General of Police Munna Prasad Gupta will travel to Singapore on Monday (October 20). “This is another step towards justice for Zubeen,” the Chief Minister said on Thursday (October 16).
Garg died by drowning while swimming off an island in Singapore on September 19. The Assam police arrested seven people, including his manager Siddharth Sharma and event organisation Shyamkanu Mahanta, in connection with his death, and seven Singapore-based Assamese expatriates were summoned for questioning.
The State government, however, has been under pressure from Garg’s fans to coordinate with the Singapore authorities for a coordinated probe.
Most fans have not been able to get over Garg’s death after almost a month. Emotionally charged, a section of his fans clashed with the police in Baksa district’s Mushalpur when Sharma, Mahanta, and three other accused were being transferred to the newly-built Baksa Central Jail.
The government had decided to shift the five to this jail without any other prisoners, as a local court, while sending them to judicial custody on Wednesday, said that they should be shielded from possible harm by other inmates. Many prisoners are believed to be Garg fans.
Violence condemned
The Baksa district authorities brought the situation in Mushalpur and beyond under control, although restrictions on the movement of people in large numbers and the suspension of internet and mobile data services remain.
The police cane-charged and fired tear gas shells to disperse a mob that attacked the convoy carrying the five arrested accused. The mob torched three vehicles, two belonging to the police, and dozens were injured.
“We have arrested more than 10 people for their alleged involvement in Wednesday’s attack. More people could be arrested,” a district police officer said.
Also read: Zubeen Garg: The atheist who became god
The Press Emblem Council (PEC), a global media safety and rights body, condemned the assault on journalists during the mob violence in Mushalpur. Miscreants attacked and injured 15 television and photojournalists and torched a Guwahati-based satellite news channel during the melee.
“We condemn the physical assaults on the media persons on duty as they were doing their duties only. The authorities in Assam need to take care of all injured individuals and nab the culprits to punish them under the law,” PEC president Blaise Lempen said in a statement from Geneva.
The PEC emphasised orientation courses for ground reporters and video journalists to safeguard them in disturbing situations that may emerge anytime in the South Asian region.
Published – October 16, 2025 05:34 pm IST
