‘Don’t turn Assam into Nepal’: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma urges amid outcry over Zubeen Garg’s death

Assam Chief Minister urged the residents of the state not to incite violence and turn the state “into Nepal”, amid widespread outrage surrounding the death of singer Zubeen Garg.

“…Today, when the people of Assam are protesting to seek justice for Zubeen, I am not separate from them,” the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said in a video on social media. “…I promise that it is my duty as the chief minister of Assam to bring all those involved in Zubeen’s case before the law…”

Garg, a popular Assamese singer, died on September 19 in Singapore. He died during a yacht trip, a day before he was to perform at the Northeast India Festival organised by Shyamkanu Mahanta.

A death certificate issued by the Singaporean authorities on September 20 stated the cause of Garg’s death as drowning. He was cremated near Guwahati with state honours and a 21-gun salute on Tuesday.

After Garg’s death, more than 50 first information reports were filed against his manager Siddhartha Sharma and Mahanta. The state police formed a Special Investigation Team to investigate the case lodged by its Criminal Investigation Department against Mahanta, Sharma and others.

The case had been filed under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing death by negligence.

On their part, both Mahanta and Sharma have issued...

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