Zubeen Garg’s death: S’pore festival organiser among 4 charged with murder by Indian investigators

Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments

TOPSHOT - Fans throng during the cremation of Indian musician Zubeen Garg, on the outskirts of Guwahati on September 23, 2025. Zubeen Garg, 52, died by drowning in Singapore last week, triggering a massive outpouring of grief among his millions of fans in Assam, where he enjoyed a cult-like status. Tens of thousands of mourners thronged the streets of India's northeastern Assam state on September 23 to bid farewell to a flamboyant artiste, celebrated as much for his music as for his irreverent persona. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP)

Emotions have been running high among Zubeen Garg's fans ever since his death was confirmed.

PHOTO: AFP

Follow topic:

A special investigation team (SIT) in India probing the

death of Assamese singer Zubeen Garg

on Dec 12 filed its charge sheet for the case at the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s (CJM) Court in Guwahati city, Assam state.

The 3,500-page document was submitted by SIT member Rosy Kalita in the presence of senior officials. In it, the SIT charged four people, including the organiser of the festival in Singapore, Shyamkanu Mahanta, with murder.

Siddhartha Sharma, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta are the three other associates of the late singer who have been charged with the murder.

Garg’s cousin, suspended police officer Sandipan Garg, has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the SIT charge sheet.

The charge sheet names a total of seven suspects.

While four of them have been charged with murder, others face charges of abetment, culpable homicide and breach of trust.

Zubeen Garg died under mysterious circumstances on Sept 19 in Singapore. He had gone there to attend the North East India Festival.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma alleged that it was a clear-cut murder with a shocking motive. He formed an SIT under special director-general of police Munna Prasad Gupta to thoroughly investigate the case.

The SIT questioned more than 300 witnesses, conducted post-mortems and analysed evidence from Singapore before filing the 3,500-page charge sheet.

The document contains forensic findings, witness statements, digital records and other critical material related to the investigation into the singer’s death.

Reacting to the development, Mr Sarma said: “The SIT team submitted the charge sheet before the CJM Court in Guwahati... We will respect the verdict of the court.” THE STATESMAN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

See more on