Violinist Balabhaskar's father claims son killed by gold smuggling mafia

Thiruvananthapuram: A day after the driver of late violinist and musician Balabhaskar Chandran was reportedly arrested in a gold robbery case, the artist's father on Friday alleged that his son was killed by the gold smuggling mafia.

Balabhaskar's father -- K C Unni -- said that the development cements their stand that the violinist was killed and the driver -- Arjun -- was involved in it.

"He (Arjun) had criminal antecedents. We came to know about it only after the accident," he said.

Unni also said that the driver had filed a case in a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in Thrissur seeking compensation of Rs one crore by claiming that Balabhaskar was driving the car at the time of the accident.

"We have engaged a lawyer to fight that case," he said.

More than six years ago, on September 25, 2018, while returning to Thiruvananthapuram from Thrissur, Balabhaskar's car had rammed into a tree causing serious injuries to him and killing his baby daughter.

The popular violinist later succumbed to the injuries suffered in the accident, while his wife and driver Arjun had survived the incident.

While Balabhaskar's wife and family alleged that Arjun was behind the wheel, the driver had claimed the violinist was driving the car at the time of the accident.

It was later proved that the driver was actually behind the wheel.

The case was handed over to the CBI on the family's plea after the police ruled the violinist's death as the result of a road accident.

However, later the CBI too ruled it as a road accident, prompting the family to move the Kerala High Court seeking further investigation.

The Kerala High Court did not accept the agency's findings and had last year directed it to further investigate the case, saying that its probe into the matter "has not been foolproof".