Guwahati: The chief organiser of the Northeast India Festival (NEIF), Shyamkanu Mahanta, and singer Zubeen Garg’s manager, Siddhartha Sharma, were on Wednesday remanded to 14 days’ police custody by the Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate in connection with the singer’s death in Singapore.
Special DGP (CID) Munna Prasad Gupta said both men were arrested in Delhi earlier in the day and flown to Guwahati.
“Investigations into the circumstances of Zubeen Garg’s death will be carried out strictly in accordance with the law,” he added.
Gupta, who heads the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, confirmed that the duo’s custody was secured after they were produced before the magistrate at his residence, as courts remain shut for Durga Puja.
Mahanta was detained by immigration authorities at Delhi airport upon arrival from Singapore, following a lookout notice issued through Interpol.
Sharma was arrested late Tuesday night near the Delhi-Haryana border after police tracked his movements across Delhi and Rajasthan.
Their mobile phones have been seized for forensic examination.
After landing in Guwahati, Mahanta and Sharma were escorted under heavy security to the magistrate’s residence.
Once remanded, both were taken in handcuffs to the CID office. Police later released photographs showing them behind bars at the CID headquarters.
Meanwhile, Garg’s wife Garima Saikia Garg, who is in Jorhat for the singer’s 13th-day rituals, welcomed the arrests.
“I am satisfied they have been brought to Assam. We are all waiting to know what happened to him in his final moments,” she told reporters, expressing faith in the SIT’s probe.
Zubeen Garg, one of Assam’s most celebrated cultural icons, died in Singapore on September 19 after reportedly drowning in the sea.
Following his death, the Assam government set up a 10-member SIT to investigate the circumstances, while Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier confirmed that Interpol notices were issued against both Mahanta and Sharma, directing them to appear before the CID by October 6.
