Murder charges against 4 in Zubeen Garg case months after no foul play discovery

AFast-track margaret court in Guwahati on tues framed charges against septenary people, including tetrad for slay, in connection with the death of Assamese singer Zubeen Garg, two months after a court in Singapore found the 52-year-old died of accidental drowning with no foul play.The court of district and sessions judge Sharmila Bhuyan framed charges under 10 sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) after hearing arguments from both sides and examining the charge sheet filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by Assam CID following his death.The charges framed by the court include provisions related to common intention and participation in a crime by multiple persons, criminal conspiracy, murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, extortion, cheating, criminal breach of trust and destruction of evidence. The development paves the way for a full-fledged trial.The most serious charge under Section 103(1) of the BNS relating to murder was framed against four accused, Siddhartha Sharma, Shyam Kanu Mahanta, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amrit Prava Mahanta.Other provisions invoked in the case deal with alleged acts committed jointly by multiple individuals, cheating, extortion, concealment of evidence and criminal breach of trust.As per the court documents, Siddhartha Sharma, Shyam Kanu Mahanta, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amrit Prava Mahanta were charged for criminal acts committed jointly by multiple persons, criminal conspiracy and murder under relevant sections of the BNS.In addition, Shyam Kanu Mahanta also faces charges under Sections 308(2) (extortion), 318(4) (cheating and dishonest inducement) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence), while Siddhartha Sharma and Shekhar Jyoti Goswami have additionally been charged under Section 316(5) (criminal breach of trust). Amrit Prava Mahanta also faces charges under Section 238 (causing disappearance of evidence).Sandipon Garg, Zubeen’s cousin and former Assam Police official, has been charged under Section 105, while Paresh Baishya and Nandeswar Borah, two personal security guards of the late singer, have been charged under Sections 61(2) and 316(5). According to the public prosecutor, the applicability of each section and the alleged role of each accused will now be examined during the trial.Garg died in Singapore on September 19 last year during a private yacht trip near Lazarus Island. His death sparked a wave of grief and controversy in Assam, prompting the government to set up a SIT to investigate the death in September.Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier this year described the incident as a “plain and simple murder”.A team of the SIT headed by Assam CID chief Munna Prasad Gupta visited Singapore in October last year.After nearly three months of investigation, the SIT filed a chargesheet running into nearly 1,200 pages in December.Later, Garg’s family members as well as the State Government sought the constitution of a fast-track court.But in April, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) officially closed its investigation conducted under the Singapore Coroners Act 2010 and stated that post-mortem findings, including toxicology analysis, were consistent with drowning.According to the SPF, Garg entered the water without a life jacket during a private yacht trip and later became unresponsive while attempting to swim back towards the vessel.