Zubeen Garg death case: Court rejects Shyamkanu’s bail plea, says he may ‘fly away’

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: A fast-track court here on Thursday rejected a petition seeking bail for “accused number 2” Shyamkanu Mahanta in the unnatural death case of Assam’s cultural icon Zubeen Garg, citing the possibility of him flying away after getting the bail.

The court of Sharmila Bhuyan, in her order, stated that there is also a possibility of Mahanta influencing the witnesses and hampering further progress of the case. The court said Mahanta did not appear or contact police in Assam after Garg’s death on September 19 and left for Malaysia from Singapore with his wife and came to India only after a lookout notice was issued and the Interpol was alerted.

The court observed that it is material on record that Shyamkanu, despite having knowledge of  the health condition of the late singer and his medical advice, served and gave the late singer alcohol directly and indirectly as per material on record. He also did not make any arrangement for medical staff and security for Zubeen, although the late singer was the brand ambassador of the NEIF, to protect his life when went to Singapore to attend the vent at his invitation. He also allowed the late singer to go to yacht party.

Most importantly, Shyamkanu did not immediately arrange medical help for late singer even after getting information about the drowning incident, which caused delay in reaching the hospital and loss of golden hour of treatment. He also did not appear before the SIT and changed his place of stay and all these facts pointed to strong incriminating material  against Shyamkanu, the accused (A2) of his involvement with the death of late Zubeen Garg.  

“The accused (A2) did not appear or contact the police of Assam soon after the death of late singer Zubeen Garg and left Malaysia from Singapore with his wife and came to India when notice was issued against him and Interpol was alerted, and this pointed he fled away from the place of occurrence country immediately after the incident, and there appears every possibility of his again flying away if granted bail,” the court observed.

“A2 deleted messages, photographs, videos and audio from his mobile handset, which were later on recovered and retrieved by the FSL expert during forensic examination, led to the conclusion that if accused A2 is released on bail there are possibilities of influencing the witnesses and hampering the further progress of the case. Therefore, after going through the entire material on record which was collected by the investigating agency and conduct of the A2 immediately after the incident and considering the entire facts and circumstances right from the beginning of the case till end  leading to the death of the late singer Zubeen Garg, post conduct of the A2, which he did, coupled with the decision of the Hon’ble Apex court, I am of the considered opinion that this is not a fit case to grant bail, and accordingly, bail prayer of the accused A2 is rejected and bail petition is dismissed,” the court ruled.

After the rejection of bail, special public prosecutor Ziaul Kamar said, “The judge only read out the operative part in the court and said that his post conduct was very bad as he left for Malaysia instead of providing medical assistance to Zubeen. He was brought here only on the strength of the lookout notice by Interpol. In such circumstances, there is every possibility of him fleeing if granted bail.”

“He’s aware of everything – the yacht trip, etc. He supplied liquor to Zubeen. We mentioned these points in our argument. Ma’am also expressed the same facts. We examined all the material given to us by the investigating agency and submitted these in court. The court appreciated and accepted our submission while denying him bail,” Kamar added.

The special public prosecutor further pointed out that the petitioner in a Zimma plea is the wife of the accused, who accompanied him to Singapore, from where they both went to Malaysia for evading the investigation; therefore, if custody or Zimma is given to the petitioner, the material may be destroyed or manipulated. The court was apprised that if the material, which is prime evidence in the case, falls into wrong hands and is destroyed, it will hamper the case. The prosecution, therefore, prayed for rejection of the Zimma petition, and it was granted by the court.

Also Read: Exercise restraint: Shyamkanu Mahanta’s wife appeals to people in Zubeen Garg case