Musician Shekhar Jyoti Goswami was detained for questioning on Thursday in connection with Assamese singer Zubeen Garg’s death. Garg died last week in Singapore during a swimming incident and Assam Police’s Special Investigating Team (SIT) is probing his death.
The 52-year-old singer was in Singapore to attend the Northeast India Festival, but died on September 19. He had gone on a yacht trip that involved swimming when the incident took place
Shekhar Jyoti Goswami was detained on the same day as the SIT raided the residences of Northeast India Festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta and his manager Siddhartha Sharma.
Who is Shekhar Jyoti Goswami?
Shekhar Jyoti Goswami is reportedly a drummer who was present with Zubeen Garg during his final moments on the yacht trip in Singapore.
According to a New Indian Express report, Goswami was a long-time bandmate of Zubeen Garg. However, the musician’s Instagram bio describes him as ‘Sound Engineer, Music Producer, Arranger, Musician, Computer Hardware Engineer’.
Authorities are yet to disclose details of why the musician was detained.
Meanwhile, there are growing demands for the arrest of Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddhartha Sharma, both of whom were not present when the SIT went up to their residences in separate raids.
A group reportedly gathered outside the residence of Garg’s manager Siddhartha Sharma and threw stones when the police were escorting an SIT team to his house. Protesters demanded the manager’s immediate arrest, accusing him of being responsible for the singer’s death, and attempted to break open the main entrance gate of the apartment complex, reported news agency PTI. Two people were detained for allegedly inciting the mob and creating disturbances, an official added
Zubeen Garg’s death probe so far
Shekhar Jyoti Goswami’s detention by the SIT is the latest development in singer Zubeen Garg’s death case. Garg’s death certificate from a hospital in Singapore cites drowning as the cause of death.
However, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has expressed hope that more details will be disclosed in the post-mortem report.
He has also assured that the Assam government would recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry if the SIT probe turns out to be unsatisfactory.
“We have to keep patience and let the SIT investigate. We will wait for their report and if this turns out to be unsatisfactory, we can definitely go for a CBI enquiry. But for now, I would suggest all Zubeen fans to have patience,” Sarma said.
The 10-member SIT to probe Zubeen Garg’s death was constituted on Wednesday under CID special DGP Munna Prasad Gupta. Meanwhile, Zubeen Garg’s additional autopsy was carried out at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on September 23, but the report is still awaited.
