Zubeen Garg's manager Siddhartha Sharma and festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta arrested in connection to his death: Report

Zubeen Garg’s manager Siddhartha Sharma recently reacted to the SIT raids at his residence days after the singer’s death by issuing a statement, which spoke about Garg’s vast catalogue and the earnings from his creative work. In the statement, Sharma shared that the majority of the singer’s 38,000 recorded songs are contractually owned by various production houses and music companies, contrary to the public’s perception.

“Almost all of Zubeen da’s songs, even the biggest blockbusters, were done before I entered his life. He often lamented how he was shortchanged, with producers and labels earning crores while he received only modest payments. This can be verified with those companies directly," said Sharma.

But, roughly two weeks after the demise of the Assamese singer in the scuba diving mishap, Siddhartha Sharma and festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta have been arrested in connection to his death.

PTI reported that Mahanta was arrested on his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi from Singapore while Sharma was arrested from an apartment in Gurugram.

The manager’s earlier statement

Calling all the rumours of exploiting Zubeen Garg ’s finances or trusts, he added, “These rumours are baseless and deeply hurtful. I have cooperated with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing his death and will continue to do so."

“This is a request from one human being to another. Let the investigation proceed without fear or prejudice. We owe it to Zubeen da’s memory to pursue truth with dignity," he said.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) conducted raids against Zubeen Garg’s manager Siddhartha Sharma. The search was conducted where Siddharth Sharma and his family have been residing since 2019, in the presence of the magistrate.

While Sharma’s flat was locked when the officials arrived, it was broken in the presence of the magistrate, followed by a search by the team. As per the residents of the building, the brother, sister and mother of Zubeen’s manager lived in the flat, but they were not seen since the demise of Zubeen Garg.