A fast-track court in Guwahati on Tuesday charged seven people, including four with murder, in connection with the death of Assamese singer Zubin Garg, two months after a Singapore court declared that the 52-year-old died of accidental drowning without any crime.
District Court and Sessions Judge Sharmila Bhuyan framed the charges under 10 sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) after hearing arguments from both sides and examining the chargesheet filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Assam CID after his death.
The charges brought by the court include provisions relating to common intent and participation in a crime by several persons, criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, extortion, fraud, criminal breach of trust and destruction of evidence. The development paves the way for a full experience.
The most serious charge under Section 103(1) of the BNS relating to murder has been framed against four accused, Siddhartha Sharma, Shyam Kanu Mahanta, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amrit Prava Mahanta.
Other provisions relied upon in the case deal with alleged acts committed jointly by several individuals, fraud, extortion, concealment of evidence and criminal breach of trust.
According to court documents, Siddhartha Sharma, Shyam Kanu Mahanta, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amrit Prava Mahanta have been charged with joint commission of criminal acts by several persons, criminal conspiracy and murder under relevant sections of the BNS.
In addition, Shyam Kanu Mahanta is also facing charges under Sections 308(2) (extortion), 318(4) (cheating and dishonest inducement) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence), while Siddhartha Sharma and Shekhar Jyoti Goswami have also been charged under Section 316(5) (criminal breach of trust). Amrit Prava Maanta is also facing charges under Section 238 (causing disappearance of evidence).
Sandipon Garg, Zubin’s cousin and former Assam Police official, has been charged under Section 105, while Paresh Baishya and Nandeshwar Bora, who are the late singer’s personal security guards, have been charged under Sections 61(2) and 316(5). According to the prosecutor, the applicability of each section and the alleged role of each accused will now be examined during the trial.
Garg died in Singapore on September 19 last year during a private yacht trip near Lazarus Island. His death sparked an outpouring of grief and controversy in Assam, prompting the government to form a special inquiry committee to investigate the death in September.
Prime Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier this year described the incident as “murder, plain and simple”.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Assam CID Chief Munna Prasad Gupta visited Singapore in October last year.
After nearly three months of investigation, the Special Investigation Committee submitted a nearly 1,200-page indictment in December.
Later, Garg’s family members as well as the state government sought a fast-track court.
But in April, Singapore police forces officially closed their investigations conducted under the Singapore Forensic Sciences Act 2010, and stated that post-mortem findings, including toxicology analysis, were consistent with drowning.
According to SPF, Garg entered the water without a life jacket during a private yacht trip, then became unresponsive while trying to swim back toward the ship.
