Is Balabhaskar's death homicide? Cops question manager after alleged involvement in gold smuggling

It was on October 02, 2018, that legendary violinist Balabhaskar took his last breath following a tragic road accident. Now, seven months after the incident, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have arrested Prakash Thampi, the program coordinator and manager of Balabhaskar for his alleged involvement in the gold smuggling case. Vishnu, another close aide of Balabhaskar was also arrested by the DRI.

Investigation officers are also probing whether Prakash Thampi had used Balabhaskar's fame as a mask to carry out his illicit gold smuggling deals.

In the meantime, the mysteries surrounding Balabhaskar's death has once again grabbed the headlines after the recent arrest. Balabhaskar's father had previously alleged that the accident might have been intentionally executed to kill his son, and he had also informed the police officials that something is not right with Prakash Thampi.

In a recent interaction with Asianet News, Kalabhavan Soby, another popular artist revealed that he saw two men suspiciously moving around the accident site when he passed through the area. Soby also clarified that he was totally unaware of the fact that it was Balabhaskar who had met with the accident.

Priya Venugopal, Balabhaskar's cousin also came forward recently and alleged that some kind of foul play has happened in the death case of the late artist.

In a recent prime time debate on Asianet News, George Jacob, a former superintendent of police had also remarked that the current developments of this case indicate a possible homicide angle.

As rumours regarding Balabhaskar's death started surfacing, Lekshmi, Balabhaskar's wife issued a statement and made it clear that the Prakash Thampi and Vishnu were not her husband's managers.

"Informing that Prakash Thampi and Vishnu, who were arrested in the recent gold smuggling case at Trivandrum Airport, were not the managers of Balabhaskar. Claims have been arising stating the same and this is not at all valid as they have associated with him only regarding the coordination of a few programs, for which they were paid. There was absolutely no further involvement with them. It's quite disheartening to see the Late Artist's name being unnecessarily dragged into this case," wrote Lekshmi on Balabhaskar's Facebook page.

However, as per a Kerala Kaumudi report, Lekshmi has clarified about the post and has apparently made it clear that it was an agency in Cochin who wrote a post on her name in Balabhaskar's official Facebook page.