KOCHI: In a new development, Kalabhavan Soby, a mimicry artist, has claimed that he saw two persons under suspicious circumstances a few moments after the accident that killed the violinist Balabhaskar and his two-year-old daughter.
“On my way to Thirunelveli for a programme, I passed through Mangalapuram, just a few minutes after the accident. At that time, I saw a person running and another person walking a motorcycle. I thought they were relatives of the accident victims and were looking for assistance to take them to the hospital. But when I slowed my vehicle, they ran away,” said Soby.
Soby said he came to know that it was Balabhaskar and his family only when he reached Kazhakoottam.
“When Balabhaskar’s father alleged that he suspected foul play in the death I remembered this incident. As I din’t know Balabhaskar and his family members personally, I told this to singer Madhu Balakrishnan, a friend of mine. Madhu gave me the number of Prakashan Thampi, the manager of Balabhaskar. I called and told him about my suspicions However, the response was not positive. He later called and told me that Attingal CI was probing the case and asked me to give a statement to the police when they call me as part of the inquiry. However, nobody has called me so far.”
Soby was in Punjab for the past 15 days and was not aware of the arrest of Prakashan Thampi in the gold smuggling case.
“I called the investigation officer probing the case to inform about this in the wake of the arrest, however, he did not pick up the call. Balabhaskar’s father gave me the number,” said Soby.
Earlier, in a Facebook post, Balabhaskar’s wife had said that Prakashan Thampi and Vinod
Somasundaram, the duo arrested by DRI, were not her late husband’s employees and had no business dealings with them. Balabhaskar was seriously injured in an accident on September 25, 2018.
The accident had claimed the life of the musician and his daughter while seriously injuring his wife Lakshmi and driver Arjun. The case is being investigated by Crime Branch.