Gauhati HC grants bail to Zubeen Garg’s bandmate Amritprava Mahanta in murder trial

The Gauhati High Court on Friday granted bail to Amritprava Mahanta, a band member of Zubeen Garg, in connection with the murder trial of the late singer-composer.

Garg had died under mysterious circumstances on September 19 last year while swimming in the sea in Singapore. Mahanta is one of the seven accused currently undergoing trial for his alleged murder.

“The court granted bail to Mahanta after going through our arguments. The details of the bail order will be known once it is out or released online. The prosecution has nothing concrete against my client. She is innocent and was falsely implicated,” said Mahanta’s lawyer, Anan Kumar Bhuyan.

The bail was granted by Justice Pranjal Das. The court has set a bail bond of ₹50,000, with two sureties of the same amount, and imposed several other conditions, including the submission of her passport for her release on bail.

Mahanta’s lawyers will first have to submit her bail bond to the trial court where the case is underway. Once it is accepted, she is likely to be released from jail, lawyers said.

“We are yet to see the detailed order. Only after that we will know on what basis the court granted her bail. We will write to the state government and it is for them to decide whether they will appeal against the bail,” prosecution lawyer Ziaul Kamar said.

Mahanta was arrested on October 3 last year after several days of interrogation. She is currently lodged at Haflong Jail in Dima Hasao district.

Following Garg’s death, there was widespread demand across Assam for a proper investigation. The state government subsequently constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the matter. It concluded that Garg had been murdered as part of a planned conspiracy.

Besides Mahanta, six other persons, including Garg’s manager, the organiser of the event in Singapore that the singer had gone to attend, another bandmate, Garg’s cousin and two security officers, were arrested in connection with the case. All of them are currently in jail.

Last month, a special court had granted bail to the two security officers in a separate disproportionate assets case. However, they remain in prison for their alleged role in Garg’s death.