27 May,2026 04:49 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Zubeen Garg. Pic via X
In a big development in the case of singer Zubeen Garg's death, a fast-track court in Guwahati has framed charges against seven people, including four for murder. The singer died after drowning in September 2025, while scuba diving in Singapore.
As reported by Hindustan Times, the Guwahati court's charges include provisions regarding common intention and participation in a crime by multiple persons, criminal conspiracy, murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, extortion, cheating, criminal breach of trust and destruction of evidence.
Those facing murder charges in the case are Siddhartha Sharma, who served as Zubeen Garg's manager; Shyamkanu Mahanta, the manager of an event held in Singapore; Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, a longtime bandmate of the singer; and Assamese singer Amrit Prava Mahanta. The court noted that the allegations and evidence presented were sufficient to proceed with the trial.
The court documents reportedly mentioned Shyamkanu faces charges under Sections 308(2) (extortion), 318(4) (cheating and dishonest inducement) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence). Meanwhile, Siddhartha and Shekhar were additionally charged under Section 316(5) (criminal breach of trust), while Amrit faced charges under Section 238 (causing disappearance of evidence).
The charges framed by the court also include provisions relating to alleged acts committed together by multiple individuals. Authorities have also mentioned accusations of concealment of evidence and financial misconduct, such as cheating and criminal breach of trust.
Zubeen Garg died on September 19, 2025, following a scuba diving accident in Singapore. After drowning, he was rescued from the sea by the Singapore police and rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was admitted to the ICU in a critical state. Despite intensive care, he succumbed.
Zubeen had travelled to Singapore just a few days before his demise, to attend the fourth North East India festival at Suntec, scheduled between the 20th and 21st of September. Autopsy reports revealed that the singer died due to drowning while swimming off a Singapore island and not while scuba diving.
Talking about the matter, Ng Kai Ling, associate director at LIMN Law Corporation, had said, "In the case of Zubeen Garg, a coroner's inquiry could possibly shed light on the sequence of events leading up to his drowning."
