• By Soumyaroop Mukherjee
  • Sat, 20 Sep 2025 01:37 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND
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Popular Bollywood and Assamese singer Zubeen Garg passed away on Friday in Singapore. The 52-year-old artist was scheduled to perform in the country at the North East Festival on September 20 and 21. Initially, reports claimed that the “Ya Ali” singer succumbed to injuries he received during an accident while scuba diving. However, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that the singer died while swimming without a life jacket.

Himanta Biswa Sarma further said the post-mortem of the singer has been completed, and his mortal remains are being handed over to his accompanying team. 

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"The post-mortem of our beloved Zubeen Garg has been completed in Singapore. His mortal remains are now being handed over to the accompanying team — Shekar Jothi Goswami, Sandeepan Garg, and Siddharth Sharma (Manager) — in the presence of officers from the Indian Embassy," the CM posted on 'X'.

Providing details of Zubeen Garg’s untimely demise, Sarma, who visited the singer’s residence on Friday night and offered condolences to his family, said that Garg had gone with 17 others on a yacht trip and died while "swimming in the sea without a life jacket".

Dismissing any foul play, Sarma said that the crew members of the yacht had asked Garg to wear a life jacket, but he took it off, saying that the jacket was oversized. "Garg had initially worn the life jacket, but after a few seconds, he took it off, claiming that it was oversized and he was finding it difficult to swim," Sarma said.

Moments later, the singer was found floating in the sea. The crew took him out and tried to revive him before rushing him to the Singapore General Hospital, where the doctors declared him dead. 

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The Assam Chief Minister also mentioned a video where Zubeen Garg is seen jumping into the sea wearing a life jacket. At the 1.26 mark in the video, the Assamese singer could be seen coming to the yacht and taking off his life jacket as it was uncomfortable, and dived into the sea.

The chief minister said that the singer's mortal remains will be kept in the Sarusajai Stadium for the people to pay their last respects, and all other arrangements will be made after the arrival of the Garg's body. "When all the formalities are completed, his mortal remains will be first brought to Delhi and then flown to Guwahati by Saturday," he said.

Assam Police To Probe Zubeen Garg's Death

While Singapore authorities are questioning the people who had accompanied the singer on the yacht, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that an investigation will also be carried out by the Assam police. An FIR has already been filed at the Morigaon police station against North East India Festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta and the singer's manager Siddhartha Sharma.

"Assam Police will probe the death of Zubeen Garg and both Mahanta and Sharma, along with those who were present with the singer in his last moments, will be interrogated," Sarma said, as quoted by PTI.

On media reports that the singer was taken to a party the night before his death without informing the event organisers, Sarma said that the Assam police will ascertain the veracity of the claims and "will impartially ascertain all aspects related to his death."

"Singaporean authorities have also started their investigation, and as the place of occurrence is not India, we will get the criminal part, if any, from that country, and if he was taken from Assam with a wrong intent, we will get this aspect from the state. "The state government will impartially ascertain all aspects related to his death, and all arrangements will be made if anyone wants to give any information or be a witness," he added.