NEW DELHI, Sept 22: A second post-mortem examination of the body of noted Bollywood and Assam singer Zubeen Garg will be conducted on Tuesday at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), the Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday.
A cultural icon for Assam, Zubeen Garg, 52, died in Singapore on September 19 during a swimming incident. He was in Singapore to attend the North East India Festival, where he was scheduled to perform the next day. It was suspected that an epileptic seizure could be linked to his death. Garg had had a few instances of such seizures in the past five years.
Authorities in Singapore had conducted an autopsy on September 19 before handing over his body to his associates. A death certificate listed drowning as the cause of death. According to CM Sarma, the Assam government has decided to conduct another post-mortem to rule out any foul play in his death.
“A new demand has cropped up on social media seeking another post-mortem of Garg’s body in Assam. In view of that and after taking consent of his family, the state government has decided to conduct another post-mortem on Garg’s body in Guwahati on Tuesday,” Sarma said.
He added that he was not personally inclined to having a second post-mortem examination of the singer’s body, adding that he does not wish to ”cut up his body” again. “After the Singapore doctors had conducted the autopsy, I don’t think it was necessary as they have more technical expertise, but there should not be any scope for any section to indulge in any kind of politics over Zubeen,” he said.
Earlier, multiple police complaints at different police stations were filed against the organisers of the North East Festival, Shyam Kanu Mahanta and Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma, accusing them of foul play in the death. These cases have been handed over to the state criminal investigation department (CID) for investigation.
Mr Sarma said the fresh post-mortem would be conducted at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Tuesday morning in the presence of some doctors of AIIMS Guwahati. Following that, the singer’s last rites will be performed with full state honours. His body will be taken for the last rites at Kamarkuchi at Sonapur on the outskirts around 10 am with around 85 members of Garg’s family, relatives and close associates.
On Sunday, thousands of people had gathered in Guwahati to pay tributes to the departed singer. Huge crowds of grief-stricken fans queued through the night, waiting for hours to catch a final glimpse of the singer, whose mortal remains were kept in a glass casket draped with a traditional Assamese ‘gamosa.’
(Manas Dasgupta)
