Thiruvananthapuram: A Kerala court on Friday dismissed a petition demanding a re-probe into violinist Balabhaskar's death.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had concluded that the musician's death was an accident and had no foul play as alleged by the family. Balabhaskar's family had submitted a plea alleging that the CBI investigation was not satisfactory.
The court accepted the charge-sheet filed by the agency. Judge R Rekha has summoned Balabhaskar's driver and the sole accused in the case Arjun on October 1.
However, Balabhaskar’s father K C Unni said that the family would challenge the local court’s order in the High Court. The family had approached the local court pointing out that the CBI probe was not satisfactory. “There have been attempts to sabotage the investigation right from the beginning,” said Unni.
“CBI has not examined Balabhaskar’s phone. His financial dealings also were not checked thoroughly. The CBI’s DySP (deputy superintendent of police) himself had told me that Balabhaskar had lent Rs 50 lakh to a person named Vishnu. Moreover, when DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) officials seized Balabhaskar’s phone, all its data had been erased. Currently, technology is available to recover erased data,” said Unni.
Balabhaskar’s car met with an accident during the wee hours of September 25, 2018 near the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) camp at Pallipuram in Thiruvananthapuram district. Balabhaskar’s relatives became suspicious over the incident after two of the late violinist’s friends were accused in a gold smuggling case. Similarly, the criminal background of the driver, Arjun, made them even more skeptical. The case, initially probed by DySP, Attingal, was handed over to the Crime Branch based on the family’s demand.
However, the Crime Branch concluded after its investigation that there was no foul play behind the accident. Crime Branch officials cited a forensic report which said that Arjun was at the wheel when the accident took place to support their findings. According to the Crime Branch, Balabhaskar and his daughter died after their vehicle met with an accident due to speeding.
Balabhaskar’s family, alleging that the Crime Branch had not considered the revelation by actor Kalabhavan Soby, who claimed to have reached the spot at the time of the accident and seen some people moving around suspiciously, sought a CBI probe.
Timeline of case
- Early on September 25, 2018, Balabhaskar’s car met with an accident at Pallipuram in Thiruvananthapuram. The violinist, wife and daughter had travelled to Thrissur on September 23 to carry out some rituals for the daughter at a temple there. The family started their return trip from Thrissur to their home at Thirumala in Thiruvananthapuram by the night of September 24 when the mishap took place. Balabhaskar’s daughter Tejaswini was rushed to a private hospital in a police vehicle but could not be saved. Balabhaskar and wife suffered serious injuries and the violinist succumbed to his injuries on October 2.
- The case was initially investigated by the Mangalapuram police and later the Attingal DySP took over the probe. The police report said that there was no suspicious angle to the accident.
- On May 13, 2019, DRI arrested two persons for smuggling 25 kg of gold. They were Sunil Kumar (45), a conductor with the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Serina (42), a resident of Kazhakoottam in Thiruvananthapuram. Soon, two of Balabhaskar’s friends, Prakash Thampy and Vishnu, were accused in the smuggling case.
- After Balabhaskar’s father Unni alleged that Thampy and Vishnu were involved in the accident that killed his son, the Director General of Police (DGP) ordered a Crime Branch probe.
- The Crime Branch obtained records from the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) which showed that Balabhaskar’s car was travelling above the speed limit. A speed camera of MVD at Chalakudy showed that the vehicle was travelling at 94 km per hour.
- Kalabhavan Soby came up with the claim that some people were seen in a suspicious manner at the accident spot. But, the Crime Branch dismissed his allegation as baseless.
- A forensic examination carried out by the Crime Branch found that it was Arjun who was driving Balabhaskar’s car at the time of the accident and the cause of the mishap was excess speed.
- At the same time, DRI officials who questioned Soby confirmed that the people who he claimed to have seen at the accident site were involved in gold smuggling.
- After Balabhaskar’s family said that the Crime Branch probe was not satisfactory, the state government transferred the case to the CBI in December, 2019. The CBI started its investigation on July 29, 2020.
