Kochi: Artist 'Kalabhavan' Sobi's sensational claims about the 2018 death of violinist Balabhaskar had created quite a stir. Now the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which was engaged to probe into the fatal accident and the suspected role of vested interests has booked him on charges of misleading the investigators by giving false information.
A case was filed against Sobi soon after the CBI submitted a charge-sheet in court, ruling out foul play in Balabhaskar’s death. The charge-sheet states that the information provided by Sobi was not factual. It is suspected that Sobi raised the allegations to settle personal scores and to garner attention.
CBI Deputy Superintendent of Police Ananthakrishnan filed the charge-sheet in the case before the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court at Thiruvananthapuram.
CBI's findings
As reported earlier foul play was suspected by Balabhaskar's kin as some of his friends were accused in a case pertaining to gold smuggling through airports soon after his death. The CBI stated that Balabhaskar's parents had come forward with the complaint, believing Sobi's words.
Several of the statements made by Sobi were later found to be false. Sobi had said that he had seen one of the accused in the sensational gold smuggling case at the accident site. But it was confirmed that this person had been in Bengaluru during this time.
The popular violinist had died following a road accident near Pallipuram in the wee hours of September 25, 2018. The SUV in which Balabhaskar, his wife and daughter were returning from Thrissur after a temple visit, crashed into a tree on the road side. While the child died on the spot, Balabhaskar succumbed to his injuries in hospital while under treatment. His wife Lakshmi and driver Arjun had sustained serious injuries in the accident.
Other claims
Sobi had also deposed that a gang had broken the window pane of Balabhaskar's blue Innova, while he was resting in his car near a petrol pump, during the fateful day. The probe revealed that no such incident had happened. The probe team had collected details from the petrol pump staff. Though it was said that CCTV cameras were in the area, no such images could not be collected.
Another statement was that the driver was called from here. But it was found that Sobi had called the driver by only 6.30am .
Israeli link!
Sobi in his statements had mentioned about a woman, a Kothamangalam native, who is in Israel. She was later found to be his former partner. Sobi had allegedly dragged her into this incident due to personal animosity over parting ways.
Sobi had also said that he was offered 100kg gold to settle the case. He had claimed that a group of people, on the behest of this woman, had come to his house and threatened him. Though he said he had CCTV images of this incident, he could not produce these when asked to. He had instead submitted the images of a passerby, who had come home to enquire about some route. Though a police case was said to be filed over the incident, this statement was also found to be false.
The polygraph test had revealed that Sobi had been lying.
'Will take legal action'
Meanwhile, Kalabhavan Sobi George has said that he would take legal action against the CBI officer who filed a 'false' report against him in court. He also said that he feared that he would be taken into custody and could be endangered as a case has been filed.
"I am ready to face anything. I still stand by what I said. I will take further action and release the images with me," Sobi told Manorama Online.
Investigations revealed that over 20 cases, including that of human trafficking, have been filed against Sobi. These include complaints of taking money over promises of taking people aboard. Some people were taken abroad, but most people were not, as per the complaint.
The CBI also stated that a criminal case was also filed based on a defamation complaint by the woman from Kothamangalam.
Another shocker!
John P Mathew, the brother of Kalabhavan founder Fr Abel, had alleged that Sobi had a role in the latter's death in 2001. He claimed that he had received information that Fr Abel was killed by giving cyanide.
Reacting to this, Sobi said that he suspected the Kothamangalam woman to be behind this allegation as well. He also said that he has approached the court, seeking Rs 1 crore damages from those who were engaged in smear campaigning.
Kalabhavan is a popular learning centre for performance arts in Ernakulam. Its products include film stars, filmmakers and mimicry artists.
The CBI had taken up the probe after Balabhaskar's father Unni was not satisfied with the probe by the state police. CBI's findings that the musician died in an accident and not due to any foul play as alleged has also upset him. He has already announced he would go ahead with further legal proceedings in the matter.
