Guwahati, Nov 6 Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said the state government will bring to the notice of the Supreme Court and Gauhati High Court threats by a group to gherao his residence if bail is granted to two prime accused in the Zubeen Garg death case.
Addressing a press conference here, the chief minister said the threat given by a group led by a legislator poses a “danger to my family and could amount to a direct attempt to murder”.
The state government honours court orders, and those questioning them are trying to create disturbances in the state, he asserted, adding that the Supreme Court will hear bail petitions of prime accused Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddhartha Sharma on November 30.
“Courts will ensure justice. I want to tell those questioning me about bail for an accused to remember that what I said in the state assembly is also reflected in the chargesheet.”
The Gauhati High Court granted bail to singer Amritprava Mahanta, an accused in the Zubeen Garg death case, on October 9 against a bond of Rs 50,000 and two sureties of the same amount. It has also granted bail to Sandipan Garg in the case.
Sarma pointed out that the high court order granting bail to Amritprava Mahanta mentions that 160 witnesses did not name her during the hearing, even though they had done so during the investigations by the Special Investigating Team (SIT).
“People should question the witnesses, not me. The court should be allowed to do its work,” the chief minister said, adding that the call to gherao his residence by a group, led by an MLA, if bail is granted to Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddhartha Sharma, is a “serious matter”, and asked the legal department to bring it to the court’s notice.
“They are not saying that they will protest near the chief minister’s office but his residence, which is a threat to my family and could amount to a direct attempt to murder,” he said.
The Zubeen Garg Nyay Samiti, led by Raijor Dal MLA Akhil Gogoi, had said on Thursday that they would gherao the chief minister’s residence if Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddhartha Sharma were granted bail or if the state government failed to mount an effective legal opposition.
Zubeen Garg died in Singapore on September 19 last year while swimming in the sea, and the police of that country had said that no foul play was involved in his death. He was in Singapore to attend the fourth edition of the North East India Festival (NEIF).
Besides Amritprava Mahanta and Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, NEIF chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, the singer’s manager Siddharth Sharma, cousin and since-suspended Assam Police DSP Sandipan Garg, and personal security officers Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya are accused in the case.
(PTI News)
