‘It is a plain and simple murder’: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Zubeen Garg death case

GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in the Winter Assembly state session, said that they never opposed the adjournment motion on the Zubeen Garg death case and emphasised that, according to preliminary investigation, Garg’s death was not a case of culpable homicide, but a plain and simple murder.

Answering the Opposition’s query, the Assam Chief Minister further asserted that they had requested the court to include Section 103 along with Sections 61, 105, and 106 of the BNS. After discussions, the court accepted their plea and permitted the addition of Section 103. He emphasised that this has been a murder case from day one, and without the inclusion of Section 103, all the accused could have secured bail.

At the Winter Session of the Assam Legislative Assembly today, HCM Dr. @himantabiswa addressed questions on transit remand related to the accused in the Zubeen Garg death investigation, while responding to queries from the Opposition. pic.twitter.com/mUJ2fMuWXJ

— Chief Minister Assam (@CMOfficeAssam) November 25, 2025

“Today, we haven’t opposed the adjournment motion to respect Zubeen Garg, we support this. Zubeen Garg died on September 19, 2025 and the next day, on September 20, we registered the first FIR. On the first day, we suspect that Zubeen Garg’s death is not a natural death. We registered the FIR under Section 61, 105, 106 of BNS on September 20, 2025. During the preliminary investigation, Assam police sure that it is not Culpable homicide, it is a plain and simple murder. Within two days of the incident, the Assam government prayers to the court that, this incident is a murder and prayer that Section 103 should be added along with Section 61, 105, 106 of BNS and after discussion the court has accepted our prayer and the court permitted to add the Section 103. This is a case of murder from day 3. If we didn’t add Section 103, then all accused might get bail”, said CM Sarma.

The Assam CM further added that the accused Shyamkanu Mahanta, Siddharth Sharma, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, and Amritprava Mahanta are currently in jail in connection to the case. So far, the Assam CM said they have recorded statements from 252 people and arrested seven.

“Shyamkanu Mahanta, Siddharth Sharma, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, Amritprava Mahanta who are currently in jail only because of murder case. This case has been registered under Section 61, 105, 106 and 103 of BNS. This is a plain and simple case of murder. That is the case of SIT,” added CM Sarma.

“During this period Assam police has received the post-mortem report from the Singapore authority and sent the Singapore post-mortem report to Guwahati Medical College to examine the both post-mortem report. We received the final report from Guwahati Medical College on November 5. We have recorded statements of 252 people and arrested 7 people so far,” added CM Sarma.

In the Assembly, CM Sarma said that the MHA has requested the Singapore government to help the Assam government through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in Zubeen Garg case.

“The MHA has requested the Singapore government to help the Assam government through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) and despite this Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar talked with the Singapore authority. The Singapore authority has allowed the Assam police to visit Singapore and we met the Singapore authority on October 21. The Singapore authority sent our required documents to the Assam government on November 4,” said Sarma.

Zubeen Garg was born on November 18, 1972, in Tura, Meghalaya, and came from an Assamese family and was closely tied to his ancestral village, Tamulichiga in Jhanji, Jorhat. Though his musical journey carried him across India and abroad, he always kept a deep emotional bond with the landscapes, culture, and vibrant spirit of Assam and the wider Northeast.

Garg died on September 19, and the Assam government formed an SIT to investigate his death. So far, seven people, including Shyamkanu Mahanta, Siddharth Sharma (Zubeen’s manager), Shekhar Jyoti Goswami (bandmate), Amritprava Mahanta (co-singer), Sandipan Garg (Zubeen’s cousin), and his two PSOs, Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishy, have been arrested by the SIT/CID. The court has sent them to judicial custody. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently told the media that the SIT will submit the chargesheet before the court by December 8. (ANI)