Singapore, Jan 14: Popular Indian singer-songwriter Zubeen Garg was “severely intoxicated” and had drowned off Lazarus Island after declining a life jacket last September, a coroner’s court in Singapore was told on Wednesday.
Garg, 52, was with a yacht party on September 19, 2025, when he died of drowning a day before he was slated to perform at the North East India Festival in Singapore.
The singer initially wore a life jacket but removed it and later declined to put on a second one offered to him, the chief investigating officer told the court in the opening of the inquiry, Channel News Asia reported.
At the time, Garg was also severely intoxicated and several witnesses saw him trying to swim back to the yacht when he went limp and began floating with his face in the water, the Channel said quoting the officer.
Garg was promptly rescued back to the yacht and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was administered to him, but he was pronounced dead later that same day.
The singer had a medical history of hypertension and epilepsy, with his last known epileptic episode in 2024, the court was told.
However, it is unclear if he had taken his regular medicine for epilepsy on the day of the incident, with the evidence of eyewitnesses insufficient to establish that he had actually taken it, it was added.
The Singapore police do not suspect any foul play in his death, according to the Channel report.
A total of 35 witnesses are slated for the inquiry, including witnesses on the yacht, the boat captain, police officers and paramedics.
The chief investigating officer in the case told the court that Garg and 20-odd people on the yacht, including his friends and colleagues, had some snacks, drinks and alcohol on the boat.
Several witnesses said they saw Garg drinking alcohol, with one witness saying he had consumed a few cups of liquor, gin and whisky, along with a few sips of Guinness Stout, the Channel said.
The investigating officer then described a step-by-step account of what happened that day and said, during the first swim, Garg removed his life jacket and later went back on the yacht and was heard saying that he was tired.
“When he decided to resume swimming, Garg was offered a second, smaller life jacket, but he declined to wear it. He entered the water without a life jacket and started swimming in the direction of Lazarus Island alone,” said the chief investigating officer.
The officer went on to describe the sequence of events in detail.
An autopsy performed on Garg determined the cause of death to be drowning. Some injuries were found on his body but they were found to have been sustained during CPR and rescue efforts, the Channel report said.
Medications for his hypertension and epilepsy were found in his blood, with no other drugs detected.
A toxicology analysis found that Garg had a blood alcohol concentration of 333 milligrams per 100ml of blood, which suggests severe intoxication resulting in impaired coordination and reflexes, the court was told.
For comparison, the legal limit in Singapore is 80 milligrams per 100ml of blood. The police also seized a 750ml bottle of Scotch whisky with 43 per cent alcohol from Garg’s hotel room that was 25 per cent full.
One of the witnesses, whom the Channel did not name, spoke about Garg’s erratic sleeping habits.
“The evidence of several witnesses, provided via their statements to the court, stated that Mr Garg had no suicidal tendencies and that he was not pushed into the water but had jumped in himself for a swim,” the Channel report said, quoting the court hearing.
The forensic pathologist, who conducted Garg’s autopsy, testified that it could not be determined whether or not he had suffered a seizure, saying there were no signs such as a bitten tongue.
The captain of the yacht, which is called the Crazy Monkey, gave evidence that he saw two of Garg’s friends holding onto his arms as he boarded as he was unable to walk properly.
The captain, who listened to proceedings via a Mandarin interpreter, also noticed, in his witness statement, that some of the passengers were already drinking alcohol before even boarding the yacht.
He also claimed that he had given two safety briefings, and that when he saw Garg entering waters without a life jacket the second time, he said, “I told his friend that he is drunk, and if he wants to get into the water, he needs to wear a life jacket.”
He also corroborated that most of the passengers, including Garg, were drinking shots.
His witness statements also included details such as when he saw Garg face down (in the waters), he quickly shouted at his friends before swimming to the singer himself.
When the captain turned Garg’s head away from the water, he saw a lot of foam coming out from his mouth and nose with a “terrible” smell, the Channel said, quoting the captain.
Before the inquiry opened on Wednesday, Garg’s uncle Manoj Kumar Borthakur read a statement he had prepared to the court, in which he raised several concerns the family had over the singer’s death.
To several of his uncle’s questions related to the sequence of events as it unfolded that day, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said some of the facts sought were not relevant to the circumstances that led to the death, according to the Channel report.
In India, a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the case, has charged festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, the singer’s secretary Siddhartha Sharma and his two band members Shekharjyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta with murder, and his cousin Sandipan Garg with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The singer’s two personal security officers (PSOs), Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya, have been charged with criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust by misappropriating funds or property entrusted to them. (PTI)
