Singapore, January 14 (ANI): Popular singer Zubeen Garg, who died in Singapore in September last year, was “severely intoxicated” and had drowned in the waters off Lazarus Island after declining a life jacket, a Coroner’s court was told on Wednesday, according to a report by Lydia Lam in Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Garg, 52, was with a yacht party on September 19, 2025 and initially wore a life jacket but removed it and later declined to put on a second one offered to him, the chief investigating officer told the court in the opening of the inquiry, according to the news report.
At the time of the incident, he was “heavily intoxicated”, and several witnesses saw him attempting to swim back to the yacht before he went limp and began floating face-down in the water, the report said.
He was quickly pulled back onto the yacht, where cardiopulmonary resuscitation was administered, but he was pronounced dead later the same day.
The chief investigating officer told the court that Zubeen Garg was in Singapore for the North East India Festival in September 2025.
On September 19, 2025, he left his hotel and boarded a yacht at the Marina at Keppel Bay. There were about 20 people on the yacht, which included Garg’s friends and colleagues, the Channel NewsAsia report said.
According to the chief investigating officer, the party had some snacks, drinks and alcohol on the boat. Several witnesses said they saw Zubeen Garg drinking alcohol, with one witness saying he had consumed a few cups of liquor, gin and whisky, along with a few sips of Guinness Stout.
The group dropped anchor between Lazarus Island and St John’s Island.
A kayak was prepared for use and Zubeen Garg donned a life jacket, which was later described by a witness as too big for him and jumped into the sea to swim along with a few others.
During this first swim, he removed his life jacket and later went back on the yacht and was heard saying that he was tired. When he decided to resume swimming, Mr Garg was offered a second, smaller life jacket, but he declined to wear it, the Channel NewsAsia report said citing the chief investigating officer.
He entered the water without a life jacket and started swimming in the direction of Lazarus Island alone, the official told the court.
Members of the group on the yacht shouted at others to bring him back, as he was not wearing the safety equipment. The report, citing the official, said Zubeen Garg turned back when others shouted at him to return, but while he was swimming back to the yacht, he suddenly became motionless and floated face down in the water.
He was quickly rescued and taken back to the yacht, where CPR was administered. Within two minutes of receiving a distress call, the Police Coast Guard dispatched a patrol craft, which arrived within nine minutes of receipt of the call, the Channel NewsAsia report said.
According to the official, the police officers took over CPR and noted that Zubeen Garg did not have a pulse and was not breathing.
The yacht was guided to Marina South Pier, about three nautical miles or 6km away, and Zubeen Garg was taken by ambulance to Singapore General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 5.15pm, the new report said, adding that autopsy performed determined the cause of death to be drowning.
Some injuries were found on his body but they were found to have been sustained during CPR and rescue efforts, the Channel NewsAsia report said.
Medications for his hypertension and epilepsy were found in his blood, with no other drugs detected, it added.
The investigating officer said Zubeen Garg was swimming in the sea off St John’s Island without a life jacket despite repeated reminders from the captain to don one, and efforts made by other witnesses to ensure he wore one.
One of the witnesses, an employee of Garg and a family friend, told the court that he was concerned about the singer’s sleep cycle, noting that Garg had been sleeping less and mostly during the day. He said he was worried about Garg’s health, given his history of seizures, which he had reportedly been experiencing since 2017.
The court heard that a witness had attempted to visit Zubeen Garg at his hotel the day before the drowning at 1pm, but Mr Garg was asleep and left his room at only about 8pm that day, the report said.
The evidence of several witnesses, provided via their statements to the court, stated that Zubeen Garg had no suicidal tendencies and that he was not pushed into the water but had jumped in himself for a swim, the report said, adding that the state counsel also played video footage showing Zubeen Garg in the water, including the first swim, when he removed his life jacket.
The forensic pathologist who conducted Zubeen Garg’s autopsy testified that it could not be determined whether or not he had suffered a seizure, saying there were no signs such as a bitten tongue, the report said.
The Singapore police do not suspect any foul play in his death, the report said
Before the inquiry opened on Wednesday, Zubeen Garg’s uncle read a statement he had prepared to the court, in which he raised several concerns the family had over the death.
He said that Garg had walked out of his hotel room “alive and full of promise” on September 19, 2025, but he was gone by the end of the day.
“Between those two moments lie a sequence of events the family doesn’t fully understand,” said Garg’s uncle, according to CNA.
He requested a full and chronological examination of events, seeking clarity on who planned the outing, who accompanied Garg, and his physical condition and health “at every stage”, Channel NewsAsia report said.
He said what troubled him most was why Garg entered the sea, and asked if he did so by his own free will or whether he was encouraged or “insisted” to do so by others.
Zubeen Garg’s uncle also asked whether there was any delay in the administration of medical assistance and said the family members in India “all want to know the truth”.
Zubeen Garg’s wife was unable to attend the inquiry but raised similar concerns, which included whether the police’s conclusion that there was no foul play included any omissions, failures to act or lapses.
At the outset, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said some of the facts sought were not relevant to the circumstances that led to the death.
He told Zubeen Garg’s uncle that he was seeking a level of detail that touched on issues irrelevant to establishing the facts surrounding the events immediately before or after Garg’s death.
The uncle was informed that he was free to question the various witnesses who would be taking the stand. A total of 35 witnesses are slated to testify in the inquiry, including those who were on the yacht, the boat captain, as well as police officers and paramedics, according to the report.
The captain of the yacht, which is called the Crazy Monkey, gave evidence that he saw two of Garg’s friends holding onto his arms as he boarded as he was unable to walk properly, according to CNA.
The captain, who listened to proceedings via a Mandarin interpreter, also noticed that some of the passengers were already drinking alcohol before even boarding the yacht.
He said he gave two safety briefings, one before they set sail and one while at sea, telling the passengers to wear their life jackets at all times, the report said.
He said he saw Garg taking off his life jacket while in the water for the first time, and quickly told his friends to get him out of the water.
“I told his friend that he is drunk, and if he wants to get into the water, he needs to wear a life jacket,” the boat captain said in his witness statement, according to the report.
He said most of the passengers, including Garg, were drinking shots.
He said he had to attend to those on the boat as they were “drinking a lot” and he needed to look out for their safety, according to CNA report.
When he glanced at the group in the water, he saw Garg face down and quickly shouted at them before swimming to him.
When he turned Zubeen Garg’s head away from the water, he saw a lot of foam coming out from his mouth and nose with a “terrible” smell, said the captain, according to Channel NewsAsia report.
He said he told his assistant to paddle towards Garg with a kayak and later performed CPR on Mr Garg on the yacht’s deck.
He said the situation on the boat became very chaotic, as some were crying and others were angry, with some passengers wanting to move away to seek help. However, an officer from either the police or the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore told the captain to stay put, according to CNA.
The inquiry is continuing, the Channel NewsAsia report said.
The seven alleged accused in connection with the late singer Zubeen Garg’s death case were produced virtually before the District & Sessions Court of Kamrup (Metro) district in Guwahati last month.
On December 16, all seven alleged accused in the case were produced virtually before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court of Kamrup (Metro) district in Guwahati.
The SIT of the Assam Police on December 12 filed a chargesheet in the Court of the CJM, Kamrup, Guwahati, against the alleged accused persons under various sections.
The main chargesheet in the caes is about 2,500 pages, and there are various documents, and it is around 12,000 pages.In connection with the case, the SIT/CID arrested seven persons, including main event organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, Zubeen Garg’s Manager Siddharth Sharma, bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, co-singer Amritprava Mahanta, Zubeen’s cousin Sandipan Garg, two PSOs, Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya.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. (ANI)
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