New Delhi: While the Assam Police has charged four individuals with murder for the death of popular singer Zubeen Garg in Singapore, the Singapore Police has told a coroner’s court in that country that Garg died by drowning after refusing a life jacket in a severely intoxicated state.In a hearing on January 14, reports the Singapore-based Channel NewsAsia, police said that 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 legal limit in Singapore is 80 milligrams per 100ml of blood.The chief investigating officer told the court that Garg had initially worn a life jacket at the yacht party on September 19. The group of around 20 people had dropped anchor between Lazarus Island and St John’s Island. Garg removed the life jacket eventually and later declined to put on a second one offered to him as he swam in the direction of Lazarus Island alone.The police aid that several witnesses saw him attempting to swim back to the yacht before he went limp and began floating face-down in the water.He was pulled back to the yacht quickly, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was administered. Within two minutes of receiving a distress call, the Police Coast Guard dispatched a patrol craft, which arrived within nine minutes of receipt of the call. He was pronounced dead later the same day, police said.Garg’s uncle read out a statement before the court at the start of the hearing, asking for a chronological examination of events, and for clarity on who planned the outing, who accompanied Garg, and his physical condition and health “at every stage”. He also asked if Garg entered the sea of his own free will or whether he was encouraged or “insisted” to do so by others.The police also noted that the captain of the yacht, called Crazy Monkey, had noticed that some of the passengers were already drinking alcohol before even boarding the yacht. He also claimed to have told Garg’s friends that he is drunk and would need to wear a life jacket if he wanted to get into the water.Last year, based on preliminary investigations, the Singapore Police had said that no foul play was suspected in Garg’s death. Garg’s wife, through a statement, asked whether this conclusion contained any omissions, failures to act or lapses.State Coroner Adam Nakhoda, the CNA report said, noted that some of the facts sought were not relevant to the circumstances that led to the death and told Garg’s uncle that “he was asking for a level of detail that touches on issues irrelevant to establishing the facts that immediately occurred following or before Garg’s death.”Garg was in Singapore for the North East India Festival when he died.In Assam, the news of Garg’s death had led to protests and calls for action against the people he was with during his death. Police, through a special investigation team has taken seven people into custody, charging four with murder. All seven are in jail and were produced virtually before the District and Sessions Court of Kamrup (Metro) district in Guwahati in December 2025.The main chargesheet in the case is about 2,500 pages, and there are various documents, and it is around 12,000 pages.In connection with the case, the SIT/CID arrested seven persons, includingThe arrested include the main event organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, Zubeen Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma, bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, singer Amritprava Mahanta, cousin Sandipan Garg, two personal security officers Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya.The first four are accused of murder.Dozens of people who had come out to the street demanding a probe into Garg’s death are behind bars as well, and at least two – Ajay Phukan and Victor Das – are charged under the National Security Act (NSA).