GUWAHATI: An initial sadness and grief following the unforeseen death of Assam’s cultural icon in Singapore at only 53 have slowly turned into outrage with the demand for justice for Zubeen Garg, as millions of his fans and admirers were convinced that something wrong happened to their prince of melody during an unplanned sea-yacht outing in the Southeast Asian nation.
The heartbreaking news brought India’s northeastern state with 3.3 million people to a standstill, turning its capital city into a sea of humans weeping, sobbing, crying, and exclaiming why Zubeen was made to die in the island nation, thousands of kilometres away from his motherland, on September 19, 2025.
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The phenomenal singer’s last journey in a flower-decked ambulance on September 21 and later keeping his mortal remains at Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati for public viewing and to pay homage witnessed an unprecedented gathering of young people arriving from different parts of northeastern India. The crowds did not lessen even after Zubeen’s cremation on September 23 at Kamarkuchi village, about 20 km east of Guwahati, with full state honours and 21 gun salutes.
Even before his last rites were performed, over 50 police complaints were lodged against Shyamkanu Mahanta (chief organizer of the 4th North East India Festival on September 19, 20, and 21, where Zubeen was scheduled to perform) and Siddharth Sharma (his manager) in various police stations across Assam, where a few FIRs added Shekarjyoti Goswami (a Zubeen associate) and Sanjive Narain (businessman and owner of Prag News satellite channel and Dainik Janambhumi newspaper), alleging that Zubeen had to die in Singapore because of their collective callousness.
Facing unprecedented public cries, the state government in Dispur ordered a probe and urgently formed a special investigation team (SIT) under the criminal investigation department (CID) of Assam Police. Even though an autopsy was conducted in Singapore before handing over his body, another postmortem was conducted at Gauhati Medical College hospital in the presence of an AIIMS Guwahati doctor, as a large section of people alleged foul play in Zubeen’s sudden death outside the country. According to the death certificate, issued by the Singaporean government, Zubeen died due to drowning, but both of his post-mortem reports are yet to be made public.
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Meanwhile, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while asking both Mahanta and Sharma to appear before the CID officials in Guwahati by October 6, revealed that lookout notices were issued against both through Interpol so that they cannot flee to foreign countries.He has written to the chief justice of the Gauhati High Court for setting up a judicial commission headed by a sitting judge to ensure transparency in the police investigation.
The SIT members recently raided the residences of Mahanta and Sharma in the city and seized several articles. The CID also issued urgent notices to people who were ‘present or aware of the events’ leading to Zubeen’s death in Singapore to appear. Eight non-resident Assamese professionals, who accompanied Zubeen on Singapore sea outings on the fateful day, have also been asked to appear before its officers within 10 days.
Lately, Zubeen’s wife, Garima Saikia Garg, along with sister Palme Borthakur and paternal uncle Manoj Borthakur, approached the police for probing the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death and financial irregularities involved with the case. The complaint named Mahanta and Sharma and all individuals (including non-resident Indians in Singapore) engaged in his trip. Breaking silence after many days, Singapore’s Assam association stated that Zubeen went on a yacht trip to Saint John Island along with some of its members.
Expressing profound grief at his untimely demise, the association asserted that some of their members were assisting the investigating authorities in the probe, and hence it was not permitted to make a public comment on the issue until the investigation process is over. In Assam, the lawyers’ association appealed to its members not to represent individuals accused in the death of Zubeen under mysterious circumstances that have ‘given rise to suspicion, mystery, and a sense of conspiracy.’ It would be a historic mistake for the legal fraternity to allow their conscience to defend the accused, said a statement.
Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi alleged that negligence of some individuals led to Zubeen’s death, and hence the deputy leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament, demanded a transparent probe into the incident. The opposition leader in the Assam legislative assembly, Debabrata Saikia, has raised his voice for a probe under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and he has already sent a letter to President Droupadi Murmu requesting her intervention over the matter.
Several civil society groups, including the All Assam Students’ Union, continue demanding a thorough investigation into Zubeen’s death, to which CM Sarma consented, if necessary, to hand over the case to the CBI, as the place of the incident was outside India. The government also restricted Mahanta from organizing any event/function/festival in Assam and held back all kinds of financial support to his companies. With more to it, a PIL has been filed at Gauhati HC by Aabhijeet Sharma and Palash Ranjan Baruah, demanding an authentic probe into Zubeen’s death and other relevant irregularities, which will be heard on November 10.