Ace keyboardist and music composer Stephan Devassy has been quizzed by CBI sleuths in connection with violinist Balabhaskar’s death. Stephan Devassy was a close friend of the deceased violinist and had even visited Balabhaskar in the hospital prior to his death. The keyboardist was summoned to the CBI office in Thiruvananthapuram for questioning. He arrived at the office on Thursday afternoon.
Balabhaskar’s immediate family had asked for a CBI inquiry into the death, after suspicions of foul play in the accident which killed the musician and his young daughter were raised. Balabhaskar’s father, CK Unni, has also raised suspicions with regard to the financial transactions between his late son and those known to him. As the musician’s close friend, Stephan Devassy was summoned by the CBI primarily to inquire about Balabhaskar’s financial dealings.
Meanwhile, a polygraph test will be done on four persons in connection with the case to make some headway in the investigation. The CBI team had filed an appeal at the special CBI court, requesting for the test to be done, and the four persons too have now submitted their agreement to undergo the test. The four persons are two of Balabhaskar’s former associates namely Prakashan Thampi and Vishnu Somasundaram, his driver Arjun and Kalabhavan Sobi, who witnessed the accident and has claimed that the musician was murdered.
Prakashan Thampi and Vishnu, who used to manage Balabhaskar’s finances and music programmes were also caught with 40 kilograms of smuggled gold from the Thiruvananthapuram airport in 2019. They were arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and remanded to judicial custody.
It was based on Balabhaskar’s father Unni’s complaint that both Prakashan and Vishnu had been questioned. The duo reportedly even admitted to smuggling gold from the Middle East before Balabhaskar’s death.