Assam’s popular singer-composer Zubeen Garg, his wife Garima Saikia Garg and two others reached the city after midnight on Tuesday after a five-day journey from Mumbai.

After screening and other medical tests, they were all sent to a star hotel here for quarantine. “Since I have both aged and young people at my residence, we decided not to go for home quarantine,” the singer said.

Zubeen had gone to Mumbai in March, before the lockdown, for treatment after he fell unconscious during an event at a club here. Though he was discharged after recovery from the Mumbai hospital he was admitted to, he got stuck there because of the lockdown.

Zubeen said, “I spent over 45 days in the hospital and then about 15 days in a guest house. Though I have a place to live in Mumbai, I could not go there either because of the lockdown.”

Garima said, “It was very scary the way Covid was spreading in Mumbai. We were eager to come back to Assam, We contacted the state government which helped us. We thank everyone who helped us, especially the police department.”

The couple and their two associates started their journey from Mumbai on May 8 in a hired sleeper bus.

Narrating his experience of the journey, the singer said, “We crossed several states to reach Assam and it was heartbreaking to see so many people on the roads trying to reach their destinations. We had to slow down because of the movement of these people and checking at the boundary of every state.”

Zubeen said he would like to extend his support to the state government in the fight against the novel coronavirus. He had already donated Rs 1 lakh to the state’s relief fund while undergoing treatment in Mumbai. He also appealed to the people to strictly adhere to the lockdown norms and maintain social distancing.

About 132 other people, including 62 cancer patients and their family members, who were stranded in Mumbai, also reached the state in sleeper buses. The patients and their family members were brought under the guidance of Assam Bhawan officials after the state health department arranged for their travel facilities. The state government had initially wanted to airlift them but the plan did not materialise.