Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 13 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday expressed hope that the accused in the singer Zubeen Garg's death case would be convicted after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Assam Police filed a 12,000-page chargesheet regarding the investigation.
Speaking to reporters, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "We filed the chargesheet in this case yesterday. The court has taken cognisance of it. I am hopeful that the accused in the chargesheet will be convicted."
Earlier, during a media briefing on Friday, Himanta Biswa Sarma shared details of the chargesheet and reiterated his confidence in the judiciary to deliver justice for Zubeen Garg.
"We have filed a chargesheet in a way that the documents collected in a sum itself are sufficient to prove the sizes. After a prolonged investigation and extensive hard work, we have filed a chargesheet in court. We have all respect for our judiciary. We know about their independence and impartiality, and we know that the judiciary always ensures victims receive justice and a fair hearing. So we hope that now that it is over, the court will give us justice," said Himanta Sarma.
"Our next two steps will be to approach the Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court for a fast-track court, and the second is to recruit a special Public Prosecutor for this purpose," he added.
The Assam CM believes the evidence is strong enough to secure a conviction and justice in the case of the death of the icon Zubeen Garg.
"The motive and criminal conspiracy have clearly been tracked, and the Advocate General has examined it. Our Director of Prosecution has reviewed it, and everyone is convinced that a conviction is possible. Rather, they are sure that the prosecution will be able to get a conviction," said Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The Assam CM also assures of further investigation in the case by the Central Investigation Agency.
"The meta will be sent to the Central Investigation Agency for further investigation because in a case where so much complexity is involved, only for Assam or SIT, it may not be possible to honour completely, but whatever we have investigated or whatever we have unearthed, it is sufficient to conclude the accused person," concluded CM Sarma.
Meanwhile, the chargesheet was submitted by a team of SIT led by Rosie Kalita. In the chargesheet, the SIT charged murder under Section 103 of BNS against four accused - Shyamkanu Mahanta, Siddharth Sharma, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta.
SIT Chief and Special DGP (CID) Munna Prasad Gupta told ANI that the main chargesheet is around 2500 pages, and including other documents, the volume of the chargesheet is around 12,000 pages.
"Section 103 of BNS has charged four accused persons - Shyamkanu Mahanta, Siddharth Sharma, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta. Section 3(6), 3(7), 3(8), 61(2), 103(1), 316(5) of BNS charges against Siddharth Sharma, 3(6), 3(7), 3(8), 61(2), 103(1), 308(2), 318(4), 238 of BNS charges against Shyamkanu Mahanta, 3(6), 3(7), 3(8), 61(2), 103(1), 316(5) of BNS against Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, 3(6), 3(7), 3(8), 61(2), 103(1), 238 of BNS against Amritprava Mahanta. On the other hand, Section 105 of BNS charges against Sandipan Garg, Section 61(2), 316(5) charges against each Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya," Munna Prasad Gupta said.
The SIT team submitted various documents, technical and electronic evidence, along with the chargesheet.
The SIT team had recorded statements from around 300 people during its investigation.
On October 21, the SIT team, led by Special DGP (CID) Munna Prasad Gupta, met Singapore authorities regarding the case.
So far, the SIT has recorded statements from over 300 individuals. During the probe, the SIT arrested seven people, including the main event organiser, Shyamkanu Mahanta; Zubeen's manager, Siddharth Sharma; his cousin, Sandipan Garg; bandmate, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami; co-singer, Amritprava Mahanta; and Zubeen's PSOs, Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya. All the accused are currently in jail.