'Mysterious financial transactions after Balu's death'; CBI smells conspiracy by gold smuggling gangs

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI’s ongoing investigation into the shocking death of violinist Balabhaskar and his daughter Tejaswini is changing tracks to a gold smuggling angle. Balabhaskar's manager Prakashan Thambi, his friend Vishnu Somasundaram, and violinist Abdul Jameel are accused in the case of smuggling 25 kg of gold through Thiruvananthapuram airport in May 2019 with the connivance of Customs Superintendent Radhakrishnan.

The CBI will rush headlong into the case and will find whether any of the smuggling links contributed to the horrific car accident that took the famed violinist’s life. The CBI has also unearthed a crucial finding that says all the aforementioned gang members returned to their old ways of smuggling right after Balabhaskar’s death.

Prakash and Vishnu, the accused in the gold scam, were subjected to a polygraph test by the CBI. The main accused in the gold scam was present at the site of the accident and his mobile tower location even confirmed this. Albeit having such a grip over the culprits, the case remained stalled for so long.

The CBI's report submitted along with the FIR stated that the accident was linked to gold smugglers and that there were mysterious financial transactions after Balu's death.

There will be a further investigation into the foreign trips conducted by the gold smuggling accused. Prakashan Thambi has flown to Dubai seven times and Vishnu 10 times in just seven months’ time. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) found that the duo had smuggled 210 kg of gold.

The gang also used carriers to bring gold from abroad. According to Balabhaskar’s father Unni, Balu denied being part of the smuggling business and thus was eliminated through the gruesome car accident.