THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI on Monday interrogated Vishnu Somasundaram — former friend and associate of musician Balabhaskar — in connection with the violinist’s death. Vishnu was one of the accused in a gold smuggling case reported last year at Thiruvananthapuram airport. He was also accused of allegedly misusing the musician’s foreign trips for smuggling gold along with the musician’s former manager Prakashan Thampi. He was let off after questioning that lasted for four hours.
CBI DySP (Thiruvananthapuram unit) T P Anandakrishnan led the interrogation which began at 12 noon at the CBI office at Muttathara in Thiruvananthapuram. Sources said the CBI suspects Vishnu’s involvement in Balabhaskar’s death as he was earlier arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) pertaining to the gold smuggling along with Thampi.
DRI had arrested Vishnu and Thampi on charges of smuggling in connection with the seizure of 25kg of gold from a passenger who alighted at the Thiruvananthapuram airport from Dubai on May 15, 2019. The violinist’s father C K Unni had alleged the involvement of Thampi and Vishnu in his son’s death.
Key suspect?
Vishnu was one of the accused in a gold smuggling case reported last year at Thiruvananthapuram airport. He was also accused of allegedly misusing the musician’s foreign trips for smuggling gold along with the musician’s former manager Prakashan Thampi