Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Two personal security officers (PSOs) who were attached to singer Zubeen Garg were arrested by the Assam Police on Friday morning in connection with his death in Singapore, taking the total number of arrests in the case to seven.
The two PSOs, Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya, had been attached to the late superstar 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 officers, the two had been under the scanner when the SIT probing Garg’s death detected “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 the other’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 Zubeen to Singapore, where he died on September 19.
Before this, the Assam Police had arrested Northeast India Festival organizer, Shyamkanu Mahanta, Zubeen’s manager Siddhartha Sharma, his fellow musicians Shekharjyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta, and his cousin Assam Police Service officer Sandipan Garg, all three of whom had accompanied him to Singapore and were with him on the yacht outing in which he had died.
Police have also interrogated Rupkamal Kalita, one member of the Assam Association Singapore, which had reportedly organized the yacht outing, who had reported to Guwahati this week in response to summons from the SIT. The SIT has issued fresh summons to another 10 Assamese residents of Singapore.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
