Singer Zubeen Garg Death: Only one out of 8 people responded to CID summons

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated in a media briefing on Monday that Rupkamal Kalita, who was present on the yacht at the time of Zubeen's death on September 19, has responded to the summons from the investigating SIT. Kalita will arrive in Guwahati on Tuesday. However, the seven other people have not said anything about coming to Assam to assist in the investigation.

The CM said that "we will keep pressure on them. The sooner they come, the sooner we can complete the investigation. We will encourage them to cooperate with us." Sarma said, "We believe that if one comes, the others will also come."

He also stated in the media briefing that some family members claim they cannot come because the Singapore police are not allowing them, while others say that if they return for questioning, their jobs abroad will be at risk.

Additionally, he also said that Assam Police does not need to go to Singapore for investigation, because under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), whatever evidence Singapore Police collects will be shared with us. Our request has already been sent to Singapore, but no foreign country will allow the police of another country to investigate on its soil.

When asked about the funds released for the North East India Festival (NIIF), Sarma said that the state government has released a very small amount this year and I have rejected all the files. Mahanta had raised funds for the festival not from Assam, but from our neighboring states in the Northeast. He further added, ‘I last attended his ceremony in 2015, not after that.’

The Chief Minister said that central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (IT) department will investigate Mahanta's accounts and we have requested their help. He said, we do not want to leave anyone and therefore we will need the help of central agencies during this process.

CID had issued summons to eight out of 11 members of the Assam Association of Singapore to appear by October 6. These include Tanmay Phukan, Abhimanyu Talukdar, Debojyoti Hazarika, Rupkamal Kalita, Bhaskar Dutta, Siddharth Bora, Parikshit Sarma, and Wajed Ahmed. All of them were with the singer on the yacht at the time of the incident. Meanwhile, four people, including Zubeen's manager Siddharth Sarma, musician Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, singer Amritprabha Mahanta, and North East India Festival organizer Shyamkanu Mahanta, have been arrested and are currently in police custody.

Zubeen Garg passed away in Singapore on September 19. The singer had gone to Singapore for the North East India Festival, which was scheduled for September 20, where he participated in a water adventure activity. It was claimed that he died in an accident during scuba diving.