Singapore report ignites Zubeen death issue in Assam

A Singapore coroner’s inquiry report has fuelled the debate over Assamese cultural icon Zubeen Garg’s mysterious death in poll-bound Assam.

In a judgment on Wednesday (March 25, 2026), the island country’s State Coroner, Adam Nakhoda, said Garg drowned accidentally and found no reason to disagree with the Police Coast Guard’s findings about the nature of his death. Earlier, the Singapore General Hospital cited drowning as the cause of his death on September 19, 2025.

Reacting to the coroner’s report, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Singapore court’s judgment and the charge-sheet filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Assam police were similar. However, he said in November 2025 that the 52-year-old Garg had been murdered.

“Investigations by Singapore authorities and Assam police revealed that he had consumed liquor the previous night, and 380ml of liquor was found. The only other thing our report stated was that he was made to drink alcohol by Amritprabha as part of a conspiracy,” he said.

Amritprabha Mahanta, Garg’s co-singer, was one of seven people arrested on charges of driving him to death. The others include Shyamkanu Mahanta, the organiser of a festival where Garg was scheduled to sing, and Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma.

The Chief Minister felt the Singapore court’s ruling would make the SIT case stronger. “I have been saying from the outset that the Assam police can perform better than their Singapore counterparts. This judgment proved that we did a good job, and people will now understand how well we worked,” he said.

However, State Congress president and Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi said the Singapore ruling challenged the Chief Minister’s murder theory.

“The Indian government coordinated with its Singapore counterpart on this matter, and the Assam government sent a police team to Singapore to investigate. The Chief Minister also told the Assembly that Zubeen da was murdered. The Singapore verdict is a gift for those accused of killing him,” Mr Gogoi said.

Lurinjyoti Gogoi, the president of Congress ally Assam Jatiya Parishad, wondered how investigations carried out by the police of two countries could yield different results. “The people of Assam deserve more clarity,” he said.