Accused in Zubeen death case, singer Amrit Prabha granted bail by Gauhati High Court

The Gauhati High Court on Friday (October 9, 2026) granted bail to singer Amrit Prabha Mahanta, an accused in the Zubeen Garg death case, Special Public Prosecutor Ziaul Kamar said.

Justice Pranjal Das granted bail to Mahanta against a bond of ₹50,000 and two sureties of the same amount, Mr. Kamar told reporters.

"The honourable judge has read the operative part. We don't know the grounds for the grant of bail yet," he said after the order.

Mr. Kamar said the hearing had been lengthy, with the prosecution presenting its arguments over four to five days. "The court thought that it was a fit case for bail, and hence allowed it. We did our best," he maintained.

Mr. Kamar said as the public prosecutor, he cannot challenge the order, but will write to the government and wait for the next steps.

Asked when Mahanta would be released from prison, Mr. Kamar said the bail order had to be submitted to the trial court, and she would be able to walk out after the necessary formalities were completed.

She is currently lodged at Haflong jail, along with another accused and co-band member, Garg, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami. The rest of the accused are at the Tamulpur jail.

Garg, a celebrated singer-songwriter, died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore on September 19 last year while swimming in the sea.

He was in the country to attend the fourth edition of the North East India Festival (NEIF).

Besides Mahanta and 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 in jail as accused in the case.

The two PSOs had been granted bail in a disproportionate assets case in September, but remain in jail in connection with the artiste's death case.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Assam Police probed Garg's death case after more than 60 FIRs were lodged across the state.

It filed its chargesheet before a local court here in December, naming the seven accused. Four of them are facing murder charges.

An exclusive special fast-track sessions court here is hearing the case.

Singapore Police, which has carried out a separate probe, has concluded that there is no evidence of foul play.

A Coroner's Court in Singapore had also said the popular Indian singer-songwriter was severely intoxicated and had drowned off Lazarus Island after declining a life jacket.

Authorities in Assam, however, maintained that it will not impact the case here in any manner.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in the State Assembly in November that Garg's death was a case of "plain and simple murder".