Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax officials may soon join Assam Police in probing alleged financial irregularities and benami assets linked to event manager Shyamkanu Mahanta.
BY PC Bureau
October 4, 2025: — he Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax (I-T) Department are expected to join Assam Police in investigating alleged financial irregularities and benami property acquisitions linked to event manager Shyamkanu Mahanta, an accused in the case related to singer Zubeen Garg’s untimely death in Singapore.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam Police has reportedly uncovered financial misconduct allegedly spanning more than 20 years, dating back to Mahanta’s tenure as Assistant General Manager at the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi). Sources said officials from both the ED and the I-T Department have already visited CID headquarters in Guwahati to review the case, and a formal decision on their participation in the probe is expected soon.
Assam Police have also launched a separate investigation into Mahanta for “organised financial crimes” and money laundering through suspected benami assets. CID Special DGP Munna Prasad Gupta, who heads a nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing Garg’s death, declined to comment on the potential involvement of central agencies, saying it was “up to them to decide.”
The probe into Mahanta’s financial dealings gained momentum after the death of Zubeen Garg on September 19 in Singapore. Garg had travelled to the Southeast Asian nation to attend the 4th Northeast India Festival, organised by Mahanta’s event management company, Trend MMS. His death during a swimming session triggered investigations that led to closer scrutiny of Mahanta’s financial and business activities.
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During CID raids on September 25 and 26, sleuths seized multiple PAN cards in the name of Trend MMS, nearly 30 stamp seals belonging to various companies and government offices, and documents related to benami properties. Sources revealed that Mahanta, along with two general managers at NEDFi, had sanctioned loans totaling over Rs 14 crore to DSS E-Connect Ltd between 2001 and 2003 for establishing call centres in Assam. No repayments were made, and an internal investigation by NEDFi was never completed.
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After leaving NEDFi in 2004, Mahanta joined IL&FS as Vice President before eventually starting Trend MMS. The CID has also recovered documents related to PMGSY road construction projects in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, raising questions about Mahanta’s financial dealings across multiple sectors.
The investigation has brought to light alleged financial irregularities that could stretch across decades and multiple organisations. Law enforcement sources say that if the ED and I-T Department formally join the probe, it could widen the scope of the investigation to include central-level financial scrutiny, making it one of the most significant financial crime probes linked to the North East in recent years.
The ongoing SIT investigation into Garg’s death, coupled with the financial probe against Mahanta, has intensified public interest, as authorities attempt to uncover both the circumstances of the singer’s death and the alleged misuse of funds connected to his travel and the festival he attended.
