Accused persons -- Prakash Thampi and Vishnu Somasundaram -- in the gold smuggling case were arrested days after violinist Balabhaskar's death. The crime branch said there were no links between the two cases while adding that they are investigating whether anybody had misused Balabhaskar's assets.
Kochi: Crime branch on Friday said to the Kerala high court that there is no link between violinist Balabhaskar's death and Thiruvananthapuram's gold smuggling case. The crime branch also said in the court that they are investigating whether anybody had misused Balabhaskar's assets.
Accused persons -- Prakash Thampi and Vishnu Somasundaram -- in the gold smuggling case were arrested days after Balabhaskar's death. As the two accused were former associates of the late musician Balabhaskar, they were questioned. But now, it is proved that there is no link between the two cases, said the crime branch, adding that they have no evidence to prove that the accidental death of violinist Balabhaskar has got any links with the gold smuggling incident.
Balabhaskar and his family met with an accident at Pallipuram near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, in the early hours of September 25. While Balabhaskar and his wife, Lakshmi were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, their two-year-old daughter, Tejasvini, unfortunately, died on the spot. Balabhaskar died in the hospital on October 2.
Earlier, Balabhaskar's family had alleged that Prakash Thampi and Vishnu Somasundaram may have been involved in the death of the violinist. Balabhaskar's father had alleged that Prakash and Vishnu had forced Balabhaskar to hire Arjun as his driver.
It was reported that Arjun was behind the wheel when the accident occurred on September 25. A few days ago, Balabhaskar’s driver Arjun had told Kerala Police that Balabhaskar himself drove the car on the day of the incident.
Later, Balabhaskar's wife Lakshmi had told the cops that it was indeed Arjun who had been driving while the accident occurred and that Balabhaskar was seated in the back seat of the vehicle. Lakshmi further said that she and her daughter were sitting in the front seat with Arjun.
According to latest reports, Arjun still maintains that Balabhaskar was driving the car from Thrissur to Thiruvananthapuram after they stopped over to drink juice in Kollam.
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