Singer Zubeen Garg’s death case has taken an unusual toll. Former Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta (Retd.IPS:1988:AM) resigned from the post of state’s Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) after an RTI was filed seeking information on activities related to his brother, Shyamkanu Mahanta. Shyamkanu is a prime accused in the Zubeen Garg death case and is currently behind bars at Baksa district jail.
Shyamkanu was virtually the organiser of the NortheastIndia Festival in Singapore, where Zubeen was to perform on Sept 20 but was suspiciously found dead. Shyamkanu is one of the seven accused arrested by the Assam Police special investigation team (SIT) in connection with the singer’s death.
Former IPS officer Mahanta took over as Assam’s CIC in 2023 after retiring as DGP. He tendered his resignation citing moral grounds, on Wednesday. Mahanta opened up his mind in a press conference, saying an RTI was filed seeking details of govt assistance to his brother (a prime accused in the death case). So, in order to uphold the dignity of the office, he he decided to resign on moral grounds.
Interestingly, he didn’t mince his words in saying that he had verbally conveyed his intention to the Chief Minister, and the CMO responded that it would be okay.
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