Singapore coroner rules Indian singer Zubeen Garg’s death accidental drowning

Singer Zubeen Garg performs at a show in India in 2024.

Photo: Facebook/ZUBEENsOFFICIAL Singapore’s state coroner on Wednesday upheld the Police Coast Guard’s (PCG) finding that there was no foul play in the death of Indian singer Zubeen Garg and ruled the death an accidental drowning.

Directly addressing a concern raised by Garg’s widow about the finding by the PCG that there was no foul play, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said the PCG had carried out a comprehensive and thorough investigation in this case.

Instead, he found that Garg’s death was “simply due to an unfortunate and tragic accidental drowning” and that no one had forced, coerced or pushed him into the water.

There was also no evidence that the swimmers rescuing him had deliberately held his face under water, Nakhoda said.

Garg, 52, had been intoxicated, and this likely impaired his judgment in his decisions, Nakhoda said.

This included his removal of his life jacket during his first swim and his “steadfast” refusal to wear it on his second swim.

This was despite being told to don the equipment by the yacht captain and other passengers.

Garg drowned in the waters off Lazarus Island on September 19, 2025, a day before he was slated to perform at the Northeast India Festival.

He was in Singapore for the festival, which was organised to mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between Singapore and India.

Garg was invited to perform at the festival as one of the most popular singers in the state of Assam and likely in northeast India, the court heard.

The coroner found that Garg had agreed to the yacht trip and that there was no evidence he was coerced into joining.

A group of about 20 dropped anchor between Lazarus Island and St John’s Island and took part in activities such as drinking alcohol, swimming and kayaking.

Witnesses 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.

He went for the first swim with a life jacket on but later removed it and refused another jacket when he went on a second swim towards Lazarus Island.

Members of the group on the yacht shouted for him to be brought back as he was not wearing a life jacket, and Mr Garg turned and was swimming back to the vessel when he went limp in the water.

He was rescued back to the yacht and later taken to hospital, where he died.

An autopsy determined the cause of death to be drowning.

Nakhoda found that Garg had been consuming

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