A “coroner’s case” into the death of Zubeen Garg is being undertaken in Singapore, where the superstar died during a yacht outing on September 19, The Indian Express has learnt. A coroner’s inquiry typically follows when a death is suspected to be caused by “unlawful act or omission”, where the cause is unknown, or where the circumstances surrounding it are suspicious. Garg, 52, was in the country as a cultural brand ambassador for the North East India Festival, Singapore, scheduled for September 20-21. On September 19, he went on a yacht outing, reportedly with some members of the Assam Association Singapore, and lost consciousness while swimming. He was declared dead when he was taken to Singapore General Hospital, and the death certificate issued by Singapore authorities states that the cause of death was “drowning.” In response to queries by The Indian Express to authorities in Singapore about their findings on the nature of Garg’s death – an issue which has been rife with speculation in Assam – Dr Shijia Chan, consultant forensic pathologist with Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority, who had issued Garg’s death certificate, told The Indian Express, “The case has been made a coroner’s case and is undergoing police investigations in Singapore.” According to the Attorney General’s Chambers Singapore, a coroner’s inquiry is “a fact-finding and not a fault-finding process” to ascertain the identity of a deceased, and how, when and where the deceased came by their death. These inquiries are governed by the Coroners Act, which lays out the circumstances of deaths in which inquiries must be held. These include “any death in Singapore that was caused or suspected to have been caused by an unlawful act or omission,” “any death in Singapore the manner or cause of which is unknown,” and “any death in Singapore that occurred under suspicious circumstances.” The coroner is a judicial officer, and the Act also requires that the police investigate the death and report their findings to the coroner. Apart from the circumstances under which a coroner's inquiry "must be held," the Act gives the coroner the jurisdiction to hold an inquiry into the cause of death of any person where the body is found in Singapore; the death occurred in Singapore; the cause of the death occurred in Singapore; or the death occurred on board, or as a result of an occurrence on board, a Singapore-registered aircraft or Singapore-registered vessel. The Act states that in deciding whether to hold an inquiry, a coroner may consider matters such as whether or not an inquiry or investigation into the death has been or will be conducted by a coroner or a corresponding authority of a foreign country, and the desire of any member of the immediate family of the deceased that an inquiry should be conducted. The Public Prosecutor may also require the coroner to hold an inquiry. "A Coroner at an inquiry is not to frame a finding in such a way as to determine any question of criminal, civil or disciplinary liability but is not inhibited in the discharge of his or her functions by any likelihood of liability being inferred from facts that the Coroner determines or recommendations that the Coroner makes," states the Act. Back home Meanwhile, the criminal case registered in Assam under charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing death by negligence has resulted in the arrest of seven people so far. On Friday, Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya, two personal security officers (PSOs) who were attached to the singer, were arrested by the Assam police and remanded in five-day police custody by a local court. The two PSOs were attached to Garg after the Assam government decided to provide security to him in 2013, following a death threat from the insurgent group ULFA for defying its diktat against performing Hindi songs during Bihu celebrations. According to police officials, the two had been under the scanner when the SIT probing Garg’s death detected alleged “irregular financial transactions, much above their known salary income” in their bank accounts, with Rs 70 lakh in one PSO’s account and Rs 40 lakh in another’s. Zubeen’s wife, Garima Saikia Garg, had on Thursday told reporters that she was aware that he had given money to the PSOs in connection with his philanthropic work, but that she “was not aware of his financial transactions.” Confirming the arrest of the two PSOs, SIT head M P Gupta told The Indian Express that they had not accompanied Garg to Singapore.
