Assam CM encouraging protests against Judges in Zubeen Garg death case: Akhil Gogoi

Raijor Dal President and Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi, along with the fans of Late Singer Zubeen Garg, takes part in the Zubeen Garg Justice Demand Committee's rally, demanding Justice for the Singer, at Zubeen Khetra, Sonapur, in Kamrup. File.

Sibsagar MLA and Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi has accused Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of encouraging people to protest against Judges and witnesses in the Zubeen Garg death case.

On Friday (November 6, 2026), the Chief Minister flagged a threat to his family after a group threatened to besiege his house over the case. He also said he would bring the threat by Zubeen Garg Nyay Dabi Samiti to the notice of the Supreme Court and the Gauhati High Court, as it could amount to an attempt to murder.

Mr Gogoi, who leads the Samiti, responded by saying the Chief Minister’s remarks amounted to contempt of court.

Denying he threatened the judiciary, the MLA said his protests targeted the Assam government’s handling of the investigation. “I have not said a single word against the court or Judges. We have never spoken of surrounding the courts. It is the Chief Minister who has said that,” he said in a statement the Samiti issued on Friday (November 6, 2026) evening.

“We are protesting against the executive’s failure to submit a charge sheet supported by adequate evidence before the court,” Mr Gogoi said, pointing out that the Chief Minister also advised people to confront some 160 witnesses who allegedly did a volte-face to let singer Amritprava Mahanta, one of the seven accused in the Garg death case, get bail on October 9.

Mr Gogoi accused the Assam Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case of failing to collect evidence from the scene of Garg’s death in Singapore. Garg died while swimming in the sea off the island country on September 19, 2025.

He said the SIT failed to establish important circumstantial evidence and that deficiencies in its charge sheet weakened the prosecution’s case.

He also recalled the Chief Minister’s statement in the Assembly in November 2025, in which he described Garg’s death as a planned murder. “How could the Chief Minister make such categorical assertions before the election [April 2026] and subsequently insist that only the judiciary can deliver justice?” he asked.

The Raijor Dal chief said courts decide cases independently, but their decisions depend on the quality of evidence placed before them.

Renewing his demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the Garg death case, he said the Chief Minister insisted on the SIT to prevent the case from going beyond the State government’s control.