Assam Police can't go to Singapore to probe Zubeen Garg's death: CM Himanta
Guwahati (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that the state police cannot travel to Singapore to conduct the investigation into the mysterious death of cultural icon Zubeen Garg.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Garg's family here, Sarma also said that Assam Police will not be able to "join the dots" if the Assamese people, who were present on the yacht at the time of Garg's death in the Southeast Asian nation, join the probe.
"Our entire concern now is whether the people living in Singapore will come or not. If they do not come, we will not be able to complete the inquiry. They were the main people behind the yacht trip," he added.
Garg died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore on September 19 while swimming in the sea. He had gone to the Southeast Asian nation to attend the 4th edition of the North East India Festival, organised by Shyamkanu Mahanta and his company.
"Assam Police cannot go to Singapore, so it cannot take up the investigation there. They are in Singapore, and it is not under my jurisdiction. Unless they come there, nobody will be able to join the dots," Sarma said.
The state CID, which is probing the untimely death of the singer, had issued notices to some members of the Assam Association, Singapore to present themselves before it by October 6.
"Their parents stay in Assam. So, we, the people of Assam, must put pressure on the parents to ask their wards to come here for the probe," the CM added.
The state CID is currently probing the case of Garg's death after more than 60 FIRs have been lodged across the state against Shyamkanu Mahanta, the chief organiser of the North East India Festival, where the singer had gone to perform, and almost 10 others, including his manager Siddharth Sharma and band members Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amrit Prabha Mahanta.
Already, these four people have been arrested in the case and sent to 14 days of police remand each.
Sarma further said, "The people of Assam should put pressure on the Assamese community of Singapore so that those concerned are sent here. A few of them have already written to us that they cannot come due to some problems. But they have the responsibility as an Assamese."
To bring the people concerned through law is a different thing, but it will be sooner if there is public pressure on them, he added.
"If they don't come by October 6, we will have to enter another cycle," Sarma said without elaborating.
When asked about reports of Garg's drummer Goswami's claim before the police that the singer was poisoned, the CM said that many things will be spoken during the course of the investigation.
"On October 10, the viscera report will come. So, we will come to know on October 11 what actually happened. But the police's duty is to note everything in the case diary.
"Some people will say good, some will say bad. Those are not the police's version, but statements of a witness only. It cannot be the police's version," he added.
Sarma said that the poisoning statement is not of police, but of one accused.
"Now, why has he made that statement? Is it to safeguard himself or to blame someone else -- these things will be revealed during investigation," he added.
The Assam government on Friday set up a one-man judicial commission, headed by Justice Soumitra Saikia of the Gauhati High Court, to probe the mysterious death of cultural icon Zubeen Garg.
Speaking about the commission, Sarma said, "Now, anyone who wants to speak or provide us any information relating to the mysterious death of Zubeen, they get a platform."
He said that the sitting judge will also have an opportunity to oversee the ongoing CID probe of the high-profile case.
"It is a kind of body which will also take care of the proofs and if they find that we are doing something wrong, the judicial commission will be able to be stricter on us. It will be a completely independent commission," Sarma said.
He also asserted that in Assam, never before a sitting judge was entrusted with the responsibility of inquiring any issue.
"So, this is the first instance in Assam. I hope that we will be able to bring everything into the public domain once the investigation is complete," Sarma said.
The CM said that he spent about an hour with Garg's family and reminisced about different past memories.
"It was not an official visit. I came to see the family personally and spend some time with them. I met Zubeen's father, wife and sister.
"Garima was my junior in Cotton College and I knew Zubeen and Garima for a long time. I just came to share our grief together. We did not discuss the case at all," he added.
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Protesters clash with police during torch rally in Manipur
Imphal (PTI): People protesting the death of two children in a recent bomb blast in Manipur clashed with security forces during a torch rally in the state capital Imphal, police said.
Two children died in a bomb blast at Tronglaobi in Bishnupur on April 7. The Imphal Valley districts have been witnessing daily protests over the incident.
A seven-km-long torch rally was brought out from Mayai Lambi to Keishamthong in Imphal West district on Monday night, but the participants turned violent and clashed with the security forces, a police officer said.
Security forces fired several rounds of tear gas shells in Keishamthong area after hundreds of protesters defying curfew demanded they be allowed to proceed for another 200 metres towards Keisampat area, which is close to the Lok Bhavan and the BJP state office, he said.
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Orders prohibiting the movement of any individuals outside their respective homes are in force in all the five valley districts from 5 pm to 5 am.
"Protesters pelted the security forces with stones and iron pellets from catapults, endangering the lives of the heavily outnumbered security forces," the officer said.
Manipur Police have, meanwhile, arrested 19 people for violating curfew and committing offences, including blocking roads and damaging public property, in the Greater Imphal area. They were nabbed from different parts of Imphal West district on Sunday, a police statement said.
In the Ukhrul district headquarters, a candlelight vigil was held on Monday night to honour the two Tangkhul Naga civilians who were killed in an ambush in TM Kasom area in the district on April 18.
Various civil society organisations from both the valley and hill areas strongly condemned the brutal killings, alleging that the victims were shot by Kuki militants using sniper rifles.
