Guwahati, October 2: Assam police on Wednesday arrested the manager of late singer-composer Zubeen Garg and the organiser of a Singapore cultural festival where he was scheduled to perform, in connection with the artist’s death last month.
Siddharth Sharma, Garg’s manager, was detained in Gurugram early Wednesday while Shyamkanu Mahanta, who organised the 4th North East India Festival in Singapore, was arrested in New Delhi after arriving from the city-state late Tuesday. Both were flown to Guwahati and remanded to 14 days’ police custody by a magistrate, police said.
More than 55 complaints, including one filed by Garg’s family, accuse Sharma, Mahanta and others of negligence linked to the singer’s death on Sept. 19. Garg, 52, drowned while on a yacht trip in Singapore with members of his team and local residents. Videos circulating online showed him swimming moments before he went under.
Authorities in Assam had issued lookout notices for Sharma and Mahanta on Sept. 27, after a special investigation team was set up to assist the state’s Criminal Investigation Department. The government had given both until Oct. 6 to surrender.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Mahanta’s bank accounts had been frozen and that a separate inquiry was under way into alleged financial crimes.
The arrests came after mounting public pressure on the state government, with fans criticising delays in taking action. Garg, a household name in Assam and a cultural icon in India’s northeast, enjoyed a career spanning over three decades.
