The Kerala Crime Branch are probing a new development in the death of celebrity violinist Balabhaskar. Two men, identified as Prakash Thampi and Vishnu have been taken for questioning in relation to the death of the musician. According to Crime Branch officers, the two were arrested in a gold smuggling case from the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, and later it became known that they were known to Balabhaskar. The Crime Branch officials decided to probe this development to rule out links, if any, to the musician’s death.
Several reports suggested that both men were Balabhaskar’s associates. While one of them organised events for the musician, the other handled his finances, reports alleged. However, Balabhasar’s wife Lekshmi posted a status on Facebook denying any links between the two men with her late husband.
“Informing that Prakash Thampi and Vishnu, who were arrested in the recent gold smuggling case at Trivandrum Airport, were not the managers of Balabhaskar. Claims have been arising stating the same and this is not at all valid as they have associated with him only regarding the coordination of a few programs, for which they were paid. There was absolutely no further involvement with them. It's quite disheartening to see the Late Artist's name being unnecessarily dragged into this case. Requesting all to kindly stop such rumours for it is extremely painful to hear about,” she wrote.
Speaking to TNM, Crime Branch SP Antony said that the two probes were being done seperately.
“Investigations into Balabhaskar’s death is being probed independently. As of now, there have been conflicting statements about who was driving the car during the time of the accident. We are still conducting a forensic analysis to get conclusive evidence on who the driver was. It will take some time," Antony told TNM.
Balabhaskar passed away on October 2, 2018 after battling in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram following a cardiac arrest following an accident. He was on life support and fought for 7 days before passing away. He had sustained severe head and spine injuries following the car accident on September 25, 2018. The accident also killed his 2 year old daughter Tejasvini.
Following the violinist’s death, his wife Lekshmi, who also sustained injuries but luckily survived the accident, alleged that their friend Arjun was driving at the time of the accident. Arjun on the other hand claimed that Balabhaksar had taken over the wheel when the accident took place.
The conflicting statements led to further probe on the issue and forensic tests to ascertain who had been on the driver’s seat. Post his death, the musician’s father too had requested for the Crime Branch to investigate the case, siting financial irregularities in his son’s death.