GUWAHATI: More than a year after she was arrested along with six others by an Assam government-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the mysterious death of music legend Zubeen Garg, singer Amritprabha Mahanta walked out of jail on Tuesday.
She was granted bail on October 9 by the Gauhati High Court against a bond of Rs 50,000 and two sureties of the same amount. Her family received her after she was released from jail in Assam’s Dima Hasao district.
Garg’s wife was upset after Amritprabha was granted bail by the court.
“We learnt that Amritprabha Mahanta had made several videos (capturing Garg’s last moments) but later, deleted those to tamper with evidence. Her release will weaken the case. The supposedly watertight chargesheet appears to have many loopholes, as suggested by her release,” Garima told the media.
The six other accused still in judicial custody are North East India Festival (NEIF) chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma, DSP cousin Sandipan Garg, bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, and personal security officers (PSOs) Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya.
The two PSOs, granted bail last month in a disproportionate assets case, have continued to remain in jail in connection with the death case.
Garg (52) died while swimming near the Lazarus Island in Singapore on September 19 last year. He travelled to the country to attend NEIF.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had told the state Assembly in December last year that Garg was murdered as part of a conspiracy. “It was a plain and simple murder,” he claimed. However, a coroner’s inquiry in Singapore ruled that the singer drowned accidentally.
In its chargesheet, the SIT had named the seven as accused and slapped the charge of murder against four – Amritprabha, Shyamkanu, Siddharth and Shekhar Jyoti.
A special fast-track sessions court is hearing the case.