Guwahati: Singer Amritprava Mahanta, one of the accused in the Zubeen Garg death case, walked out of Haflong sub-jail in Assam’s Dima Hasao district on Tuesday after 374 days in pre-trial and undertrial detention.Gauhati high court granted her bail on Oct 9 against a bond of Rs 50,000 and two sureties of the same amount. Her family received her as she stepped out of the jail around 6:30 am on Tuesday.She will, however, continue to face trial. The HC clarified that the observations made in its bail order were only for deciding the bail plea and should not be treated as an opinion on the merits of the case, either in favour of the defence or the prosecution.Amritprava was arrested on Oct 3 last year in connection with the case and lodged at Haflong sub-jail along with another accused, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami. The other accused are lodged in Tamulpur jail.Amritprava, one of the four accused charged with murder, was held in CID custody for 14 days before being sent to judicial custody. The SIT chargesheet named seven accused, including Amritprava. On March 26, a special fast-track court framed charges against her, including criminal conspiracy, murder and causing disappearance of evidence of an offence.The HC attached several conditions to her bail. She must cooperate with the ongoing trial, must not tamper with evidence or try to influence witnesses, and must not travel abroad without the trial court’s permission. The court also directed her not to harm herself and to take precautions for her own safety. Any violation could lead to cancellation of her bail, the court ordered.Zubeen died in Singapore on Sept 19 last year while swimming in the sea. He was in the country to attend the fourth edition of the North East India Festival (NEIF).Besides Amritprava and Shekhar Jyoti, the other accused are NEIF chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta; Zubeen’s manager, Siddharth Sharma; his cousin and suspended Assam Police DSP Sandipan Garg; and personal security officers (PSOs) Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya.The two PSOs were granted bail in a disproportionate assets case in Sept but remain in jail in connection with the death case.
