No conspiracy behind violinist Balabhasker’s death; chargesheet against driver Arjun

The Central Bureau of Investigation has dispelled various speculations and conspiracies surrounding the death of violinist and musician Balabhasker, who died in a car accident. The agency filed a chargesheet against Arjun, who was driving the car, for involuntary manslaughter. According to the CBI, Arjun’s reckless driving at high speeds led to the accident. A case has also been filed against Kalabhavan Soby for bearing false witness, as he had claimed that Balabhasker’s car was attacked by members of a gold smuggling gang.

The CBI is said to have submitted 132 testimonies and 100 documents to the court. The CBI took over Balabhasker and his daughter’s death in a car crash at Pallipuram in September 2018 on December 2019. This was the result of a petition Balabhasker’s parents gave to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. In the plea, they had alleged that the suspects in the case were linked to gold smuggling and added that suspicious transactions were carried out from their son’s bank accounts following his death.

Balabhasker, his wife Lekshmi, and daughter Tejaswini were on their way to Thiruvananthapuram from Thrissur when their car hit a tree at Pallipuram. While Tejaswini died at the spot due to injuries, Balabhasker and his wife were taken to a hospital, where Lekshmi recovered. Balabhasker, who suffered massive injuries, suffered a cardiac arrest on October 2, 2018, after a surgery.

Balabhasker’s father Unni urged Pinarayi to allow a CBI probe as he felt the accident was engineered. Prakash Thampy, a close aide of the violinist and an accused in gold smuggling, and driver Arjun, who was also injured, had claimed that Balabhasker was at the wheel. However, the police discovered that Arjun was the one behind the wheel. Balabhasker’s father told the CM that the police did not investigate the conspiracy angle, and thus the central agency was brought in.