Thiruvananthapuram: The Crime Branch team probing the death of violinist Balabhaskar recreated the accident scene in a bid to solve the mystery behind his death. His car had skidded off the road and crashed into a tree at Pallipuram near here as his family and driver Arjun were returning from Thrissur on September 25, 2018. The scene was recreated using an Innova car. The Crime Branch also conducted an expert examination in the car now under the custody of Mangalapuram police station with the help of forensic experts, motor vehicle department and car mechanics.
This was to find out whether the person driving it wore the seat belt or not. The examination concluded that the driver was not wearing the seat belt while the person sitting on the left seat in the front had worn the seat belt.
The examination was also intended to bring clarity on who drove the car--Balabhaskar or Arjun—as there were conflicting versions.
Meanwhile, the Revenue Intelligence found that Vishnu Somasundaram and Prakashan Thampy, friends of Balabhaskar, had smuggled nearly 200 kilos of gold. However, there is no proof that the two were involved in the smuggling while Balabhaskar was alive.
The DRI said Prakashan Thampy got in touch with customs superintendent Radhakrishnan, who is also an accused in the gold smuggling case, introducing himself as Balabhaskar’s friend.
The DRI during the questioning of Vishnu found that from November to May last year, Thampy had travelled to Dubai seven times and Vishnu 10 times along with carriers.
Thampy had smuggled 60 kilos and Vishnu 50 kilos of gold in these trips. Before the death of Balabhaskar, the duo had gone to Dubai only a few times. So the chances of smuggling gold when the violinist was alive were remote.
