Thiruvananthapuram: The CBI has filed an application in the court seeking permission for lie-detection tests in the case related to the death of violinist Balabhaskar that was caused by a road accident.
The agency wants to subject Balabhaskar's friends Prakashan Thampi, Vishnu Somasundaram, driver Arjun and Kalabhavan Sobi to the lie-detection test.
They will be summoned to court on September 16 to find out if they are ready for the lie-detector test. The CBI is planning to conduct the test in Thiruvananthapuram or Kochi as per the directions of the court on those who agree to it.
The accident happened early morning on September 5, 2018, when the car in which Balabhaskar was travelling with his wife and child from Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur lost control and hit a tree on the highway at Pallippuram CRPF camp junction. While Balabhaskar’s child died on the spot, he breathed his last on October 2 during treatment at a hospital. His wife and Arjun were injured.
Kalabhavan Sobi has alleged that the accident was staged. He said he had passed by the accident spot around the time it happened and had seen some suspicious activities by a group of people near the spot. They damaged the car and made it seem like an accident, he said.
Balabhaskar’s relatives also alleged a conspiracy in the death when his friends Prakashan Thampi and Vishnu Somasundaram were accused in a gold smuggling case at the Kochi airport. They said that Arjun’s claim that he was not the one driving the vehicle at the time of the accident and changing his statement also seemed suspicious.
The CBI had questioned Arjun as part of the investigation. He told the agency that he was not behind the wheel and that Balabhaskar was driving the car. He said he was in the back seat sleeping. He realised there had been an accident only when he woke up on hearing a loud noise, he said.
Arjun, a native of Patturaikal, said he was ready for a lie-detector test.
