Zubeen Garg death case: SPF assures necessary legal assistance within SIT’s timeline

Visited place of occurrence, exchanged data on probe: SIT chief

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: In a positive and significant development in the Zubeen Garg death case, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) assured the SIT officials of Assam Police who visited Singapore that all necessary legal assistance will be provided to the SIT. The SIT and SPF teams also exchanged data on their respective investigations during a 'fruitful meeting'.

This was stated by SIT chief SDGP (CID) Munna Prasad Gupta today, after the team's return from Singapore on Thursday.

The SIT chief said, "On our arrival in Singapore on October 20, we met with the Indian High Commissioner there. We discussed the legal assistance required from Singapore. Thereafter, on October 21, we sat for our scheduled meeting with higher officials of the Singapore Police Force (SPF), as scheduled earlier. The meeting was very fruitful, and we exchanged various data from our respective investigations into Zubeen Garg's death. During the meeting, the SPF shared the post-mortem report with us through the Indian High Commission. The report is very necessary for us in conducting our investigation. On informing them of the timeframe within which we have to complete our investigation, the SPF assured us that all necessary legal assistance will be provided to us as per our timeframe, but keeping within the Singapore legal system."

"After the meeting with the SPF, we inspected the place of occurrence of the tragic incident. Along with that, we conducted our investigation, which was possible with the legal boundaries of Singapore. We talked about securing the CCTV footage from the Pan Pacific Hotel, which can be accessed only by the SPF. The Singapore Police then assured us that they will respond positively to our request within ten days. We need the statements of not only Singapore citizen Wazid Ahmed but others as well. We had requested this earlier through the MLAT and stressed that during our meeting with the SPF. The statements can be taken only by the SPF, and they will hand these to us within ten days," SDGP Munna Prasad Gupta added.

"It will not be proper to reveal our findings at this stage of the investigation," the SIT chief said, adding that the charge sheet will be submitted before the court within the stipulated time. He further stated the SPF will submit their findings on completion of their investigation, and the Singapore Coroner will then decide on the future course of action.

Meanwhile, the SIT has recorded the statements of over 70 people. Today also, the SIT took the statement of Garima Saikia Garg. Zubeen's sister Palme Borthakur accompanied Garima to the CID office. The SIT also questioned Siddharth Sharma's two business associates, Vikash Agarwal and Pratik Khaitan, today.

 Also Read: Assam: SOP for visit to Zubeen Garg's samadhi kshetra relaxed