Thiruvananthapuram: The veil of mystery surrounding the death of noted violinist Balabhaskar is yet to lift even nearly two years after his death in a road accident. An artist who had earlier claimed noticing suspicious characters near the accident site in South Kerala has now identified one among them as PS Sarith Kumar, the accused number one in the gold smuggling case which has hit the headlines these days.
The first accused in the gold smuggling case, P S Sarith Kumar, was present at the spot where music director and violinist Balabhaskar met with an accident that killed him, according to Kalabhavan Sobi.
He said he recognised Sarith Kumar from the photos that were published in the media.
Sobi, who has been claiming for long that the violinist’s death was not an accident, said he had passed by Balabhaskar’s car a few minutes after the accident and found some people acting suspiciously. He had told the crime branch about this, but there was no investigation into it, he said.
Later, the DRI showed him photos of some gold smugglers and he had recognised one of them, Sobi said. Sarith’s photo was not one those showed to him, he said.
He said he identified Sarith when he was arrested after the diplomatic gold smuggling case detected at the Trivandrum Airport on July 5 started making headlines.
The DRI, which had said that some of the people seen at the accident spot had links to gold smuggling, is still continuing with the investigation.
Relatives suspected the involvement of gold smugglers after his former manager was found to be a part of the gang that tried to smuggle 25 kg of gold through the Trivandrum airport on May 13, 2019. Customs officer B Radhakrishnan was also arrested in the case.
On the early morning of September 25, 2018, Balabhaskar was travelling with his wife and child from Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur when their vehicle went out of control near Pallippuram and hit a tree on the roadside. The child died on the spot, while Balabhaskar breathed his last on October 2 during treatment.
His wife and a friend Arjun, who was also in the vehicle, were injured.
After the role of a gold smuggling racket was alleged soon after the fatal crash, a subsequent Crime Branch probe had concluded that no foul play was involved.
Sobi had told the Crime Branch that he had passed by the spot in about 10 minutes after the accident. He, however, did not realise then that the vehicle belonged to Balabhaskar, he said. The accident spot was crowded.
When his vehicle went a little ahead, he saw a person running on the left. On the right, another person was pushing a bike.
He said he reduced the speed of his vehicle thinking they must be related to the accident victims, but they did not stretch out their hands seeking help. He felt there was something suspicious about them.
As he went a little further, a few people hit the bonnet of the car and asked him to take the vehicle away from there. Their faces were clearly visible in the glare of the light.
One of the persons was wearing a red t-shirt and glasses and standing by the roadside. He was Sarith Kumar, said Sobi. He had his hands in his pocket and was standing away from the crowd.
When others were throwing abuses at him, Sarith did not join them, Sobi said. That is why he still remembers that face and could identify him from the photos, Sobi said.
Sobi was called by the DRI after he said the accident looked suspicious and gave him photos of 32 people involved in gold smuggling to examine.
The bunch included photos of people involved in gold smuggling through airport and hiding in foreign countries and 10 women ‘carriers’ of smuggled gold. He identified one of them, he said.
After forensic reports said that Arjun was driving Balabhaskar’s car that met with the accident, the crime branch said there was nothing suspicious in the case. The case was later transferred to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation).
Meanwhile, Balabhaskar’s father C K Unni, also a musician, demanded that Sobi’s allegations must be investigated. He still stands by his claim that there is something suspicious about the death of his son. The investigation should find out if his son was sacrificed for smuggling gold, he said.
