'It's a plain murder, no criminal conspiracy': CM Himanta Biswa Sarma addresses Zubeen Garg's death in Assam Assembly

Zubeen Garg

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced in the state Assembly on Tuesday that singer Zubeen Garg's death was a "murder" rather than a "accident". The 52-year-old singer and songwriter died on September 19 while swimming in the sea in Singapore.

Chief Minister Sarma made the statements during the Assam Legislative Assembly's Winter Session. His statement came amid a discussion about Garg's death, which was triggered by the opposition via an adjournment motion. He stressed that the case was a "plain murder" rather than a "culpable homicide" or "criminal conspiracy".

CM Sarma calls it a 'plain murder'

"It is a plain and simple murder," Sarma stated when asked about the Assamese singer's death. The Chief Minister posted a video of the proclamation on his official X handle. On Tuesday, the first day of the winter session, the Speaker granted an adjournment motion in the Assembly to examine the singer's death at the request of Chief Minister Sarma.

Earlier, Himanta Biswa Sarma had mentioned, "As you know, if any incident happens in a foreign country, under Section 208 of BNSS, the prosecuting agency has to take a prior sanction of the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Central Government. Without that sanction, the court will not take cognisance of the matter, and it will not proceed to trial. Today, Union HM Amit Shah has accorded a sanction to proceed with the matter further, and the sanction will enable us to give a chargesheet in time… We'll conclude the investigation within a period of 10 to 15 days, and we'll file our chargesheet before December 10."

All about the death probe

Meanwhile, the one-member inquiry commission examining Garg's death has extended the deadline for submitting evidence and recording comments until December 12. The panel, led by Guwahati High Court judge Justice Soumitra Saikia, began gathering witnesses and records on November 3, after the Assam government entrusted it with investigating all aspects of the incident. The earlier deadline was November 21.

The commission's remit includes reconstructing the sequence of events preceding and following the singer's death and assessing whether any failures, negligence, or wrongdoing happened on the part of individuals or organizations. It is also in charge of investigating any potential outside involvement, such as "foul play, conspiracy, or unlawful acts" that may have impacted or been linked to the incident.