Zubeen Garg Case: ED and I-T to Join Financial Crime Investigation:

Zubeen Garg Case: ED and I-T to Join Financial Crime Investigation The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (I-T) Department may soon join the Assam Police in investigating event manager Shyamkanu Mahanta. He is accused of being involved in large-scale financial crimes and buying properties under other people's names (benami properties). He is also a suspect in the case related to the death of Assam's cultural icon, Zubeen Garg. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam Police has found old financial irregularities connected to Mahanta from over 20 years ago, during his time working at a non-banking financial company (NBFC). According to the source, officials from the ED and I-T Department have already visited the CID headquarters to look into the matter. Apart from this, Assam Police have launched a separate investigation into Mahanta for suspected financial crimes and money laundering.

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Officials from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (I-T) Department have visited the CID (Criminal Investigation Development) office and discussed the case involving event manager Shyamkanu Mahanta. They may soon officially join the investigation, though no final decision has been made yet. CID recently raided Mahanta’s home on September 25 and 26, and found several suspicious items. These included:

• Multiple PAN cards issued to the same company
• Around 30 different stamp seals from various companies and government offices
• Documents related to several properties believed to be bought under fake names (benami properties)

CID officials say they can't share too many details right now, as it could affect the investigation. When asked whether ED and I-T will join the case, CID Special DGP Munna Prasad Gupta said he couldn’t speak for those agencies. So far, over 60 FIRs (police complaints) have been filed across Assam against Mahanta and others, including Zubeen Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma and two band members. Mahanta was the main organiser of the North East India Festival in Singapore, where singer Zubeen Garg tragically died while swimming on September 19. A 9-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by Special DGP Gupta, is investigating Zubeen’s death. Four people have already been arrested and are in police custody for 14 days. Mahanta is also being investigated for financial irregularities going back over 20 years. A source revealed that when he worked at North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) as Assistant General Manager, he and two other officers approved a Rs.14 crore loan to a company named DSS E-Connect Ltd to set up call centres in Assam. The company received Rs. 8.42 crore in 2001 and Rs. 6 crore in 2003 but no call centres were built, and no repayments were made.

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The loan was declared a non-performing asset (NPA) in March 2003. An internal investigation was started in 2004 but was never completed. Mahanta left NEDFi that same year and later joined IL&FS as Vice President before starting his own event company, Trend MMS. In the recent raids, CID also seized:

• Two PAN cards for his company, Trend MMS
• 28 stamp seals from his office, including those of companies and government officers
• Documents related to road construction projects under the PMGSY scheme in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh

However, the investigation is ongoing and expected to widen further.