Nava Thakuria
For millions of fans and followers of Zubeen Garg, who faced an unexplained death in Singapore on 19 September last year, unpleasant news broke out from the island nation, as its police department made it clear that the iconic Assamese singer died in an intoxicated status while swimming in sea water without wearing a mandatory life jacket. The Straits Time, a mainstream newspaper of the southeast Asian country, reported on 14 January last that Zubeen, 53, consumed alcohol and refused a life vest before jumping off a yacht and finally drowned in waters near Lazarus Island on the fateful day. Quoting the version of David Lim (a Singapore police investigator), who was testifying in front of a coroner's inquiry into Zubeen's death, the influential English daily also reported that as his friends tried to convince Zubeen to swim back to the yacht, he suddenly 'became motionless and began floating face down'.
The investigator with Police Coast Guard also informed the court that Zubeen was soon pulled back to the yacht where 'efforts were made to resuscitate him', but later he was pronounced dead in Singapore General Hospital at 5.15 pm (Singaporean time). The cause of his death was drowning, reiterated the officer while adding that Zubeen arrived in Singapore to perform in the 4th North East India Festival (NEIF), a spectacular event organised at Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre in Singapore, on 20 September. Asserting that the ace singer did not have any suicidal tendencies and 'was not subjected to duress or coercion before his death', the officer also stated that Zubeen 'did not wear a life jacket, despite repeated reminders by the yacht captain to wear one'.
Zubeen had 333 milligram of alcohol per 100 millilitre of blood in his system, which an autopsy report revealed and it might have impacted his coordination. Singapore has the current drink driving limit at 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. The yacht captain while testifying informed the court that around 15 individuals boarded the vessel at Marina in Keppel Bay and many of them (mostly members of the Assam Association Singapore) along with Zubeen were already drunk. 'The singer was so unsteady, his friends had to hold on to his arms as he boarded the vessel', reported the newspaper while quoting versions of the captain. It also added that Zubeen was not forced by anyone 'to drink alcohol or enter the water' and importantly, 'the singer and his entourage were briefed while on the yacht that they ought to don life jackets before swimming'.
The Singapore event (on 19, 20, 21 September 2025), inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Act East vision, marked 60th anniversary of India-Singapore diplomatic ties and India-ASEAN year of tourism. According to PTI, a trusted news agency of India, the 4th NEIF was organised by Trend MMS with supports from Singapore-based Indian High Commission, foreign ministry and State governments of north-eastern region along with Assam as well as North East India Association in Singapore. NEIF was earlier organised in Bangkok (2019, 2022) and Ho Chi Minh (2023) attracting significant audiences. A good number of performers from north-east India were invited for the festival, where Zubeen was seen in a promo video (https://www.instagram.com/p/DOq2U7ZgvKY/) prior to the event.
The Singapore police may not find any foul play in Zubeen's death, but it became a colossal issue in Assam as he was the singing sensation after music maestro Bhupen Hazarika, and the government was forced to constitute a special investigation team of Assam Police to probe into Zubeen's death in Singapore. The SIT even arrested seven persons (including the NE festival organizer Shyamkanu Mahanta, Siddharatha Sharma, Zubeen's manager, Shekharjyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta, the artiste's musician partners, Sandipan Garg, one of his cousins, with two personal security officers) and a team visited Singapore to gather relevant information relating to the probe. A charge-sheet with over 2,500 pages was also submitted on 12 December and the trial has already begun. Due to security concerns, all the accused individuals have been produced virtually in the Kamrup (metropolitan) district sessions court from their respective jails.
Soon after the disagreeable news surfaced from Singapore, Zubeen's wife Garima Saikia Garg appealed to the Assam government as well as the Union government in New Delhi 'to closely monitor the court proceedings in Singapore' so that necessary diplomatic and legal intervention can be pursued. She also insisted on a fast-track trial under a special bench in the court. Otherwise, she argued, it will take a lot of time to listen to over 300 witnesses in the sensational case. Taking advantage of the situation, opposition Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi criticized Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma-who claimed that Zubeen was murdered following a conspiracy hatched in the home ground- for his unjustified comments. The State Congress chief raised a serious question, whom the people of Assam will now believe over Zubeen's untimely demise, as the Singaporean authorities repeatedly claimed that his death was not unnatural.
Reacting to the opposition's criticism, CM Sarma maintained his stand that the Assam police probe was independent of that one done in Singapore. He lauded the State police for conducting a better investigation into the fateful incident. The Singaporean investigation agency could not find any foul play over Zubeen's unnatural demise, but the Assam police team slapped murder charges on four accused. Sarma however asserted that as the matter remains in the court, the politicians should not make unnecessary comments. Meanwhile, talking to this writer, a Delhi-based legal practitioner argued that the murder case has little possibility of standing in the court. Once the verdict of Singapore court comes out (probably ahead of Indian judicial processes), it may negatively impact and finally may demoralize the Zubeen fans, millions of who wept for days and hit the streets demanding justice. Nonetheless, Zubeen's murder/death case will seemingly be exploited by the political parties, ahead of the State legislative assembly election, putting hundreds of thousands of Zubeen sympathizers in disheartenment.
