GUWAHATI: Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, the arrested bandmate of Zubeen Garg, alleged that the deceased music legend was poisoned by his manager Siddharth Sharma and festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta in Singapore.
In his statement, recorded under Section 175 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, Goswami claimed that Sharma and Mahanta had knowingly chosen a foreign land to conceal the conspiracy.
Earlier, the two were booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy and causing death by negligence.
Goswami also claimed that a conspiracy was hatched to make Garg’s death appear accidental and that he (Goswami) observed suspicious conduct in the lead-up to the incident.
According to the “detailed grounds of arrest,” Sharma forcibly seized control of the yacht from its sailor, causing it to wobble dangerously in mid-sea, thus endangering the lives of all passengers. Sharma allegedly also instructed a member of the Assam Association, Singapore, not to arrange for drinks, claiming that he alone would do it.
According to Goswami, during the critical moments when Garg was gasping for breath and almost drowning, Sharma was heard shouting “jabo de, jabo de” (let him go, let him go).
Goswami emphasised that Garg was an expert swimmer who had trained both him as well as Sharma, and therefore, could not have died due to drowning. He also alleged that Sharma had instructed him not to share the yacht videos with anyone.
When Garg was frothing at the mouth and nose, Goswami alleged, Sharma dismissed it as “acid reflux” and assured others that there was nothing to worry about. Instead of providing necessary medical facilities, he facilitated the early demise of Garg, Goswami further alleged.
Sharma and Mahanta are also in the custody of the CID following their arrest on October 1. Singer Amrit Prabha Mahanta is the fourth person arrested in connection with the death of Garg (52), who had travelled to Singapore to take part in NEIF.
Meanwhile, the Assam government has constituted a one-man judicial commission, headed by Justice Soumitra Saikia of Gauhati High Court, to probe the singer’s death. The report of the second autopsy, conducted at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, has been handed over to the family.