Coroner’s inquiry: Death of Indian singer Zubeen Garg in Singapore ruled an accidental drowning

He later removed it while in the water, as he found it was too big for him. When he returned to the yacht, he had to be helped on board as he was breathing heavily.

“It was apparent he was already exhausted by the short swim. I find the exhaustion was apparent by the fact that he was unable to get onto the yacht himself and required assistance,” the coroner pointed out.

Later, Mr Garg decided to join another man for a second swim towards Lazarus Island. Before he resumed swimming, he was handed a smaller life jacket but refused to wear it.

The coroner said the man who handed Mr Garg the life jacket had made commendable efforts to try to put the life jacket on him, even holding on to Mr Garg’s arm while waiting for the smaller life jacket to be passed over.

“Ultimately, his efforts were to no avail. Mr Garg steadfastly refused to wear it nor (did he) allow the man to put the life jacket on him,” said the coroner.

Mr Garg started to swim towards Lazarus Island alone, before four others swam after him after noticing he had not put on a life jacket.

“Having reviewed video evidence, his swim strokes appeared to be more akin to doggy paddling. It resembled the swim strokes of a person who was tired or fatigued,” the coroner said.

At one point, Mr Garg decided to turn back and swim towards the yacht.

“Seeing as his drowning occurred shortly after he turned back and swam back towards the yacht, I found it was possible he decided to do so as he was very fatigued or he felt something was not right with himself physically,” said the coroner.

As he was doing so, he appeared to be swimming more slowly. The coroner said Mr Garg likely lost consciousness, and his face became submerged in the water.

When the other swimmers noticed this, they immediately swam towards Mr Garg and supported him by lifting his head up and out of the water.

“I found the swimmers in the sea had assisted Mr Garg to the best of their abilities. There was no evidence to suggest his face had been deliberately held underwater,” the coroner said.

Mr Garg was pulled back onto the yacht, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was administered to him while an emergency call was made at 3.36pm.

ASP Lim said a Police Coast Guard boat was dispatched and arrived at the yacht in less than 10 minutes.

The yacht was then guided to Marina South Pier, where an ambulance took Mr Garg to Singapore General Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 5.13pm.

The coroner said there was also no evidence of any delay in administration of first aid, nor delay in getting Mr Garg back to the mainland to convey him to a hospital.

An autopsy report found that Mr Garg had 333mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system, which would have impacted his coordination.

In comparison, the current drink driving limit is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

Dr Chan Shijia, a pathologist from the Health Sciences Authority, testified at the inquiry that Mr Garg had several injuries on his body, including bruising to his chest and lips.

These were consistent with resuscitation efforts, the pathologist added.

Medications for hypertension and epilepsy, which Mr Garg had a history of, were found in his blood, with no other drugs detected.

Mr Garg’s death caused an uproar in Assam, where fans stormed the home of his manager, Siddhartha Sharma, in Guwahati. The protest turned violent, and clashes broke out with the police.

Following his death, an investigation team in India charged multiple people, including the organiser of the festival in Singapore, Shyamkanu Mahanta, with murder.

Three other associates of the singer – Sharma, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta – were also charged with the offence in India.