Balabhaskar death: Kalabhavan Sobi says he saw Sarith, a ‘prominent’ artiste

Thiruvananthapuram: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took Kalabhavan Sobi to various places to gather evidence pursuant to the latter’s statement that the death of musician Balabhaskar was in a staged accident, on September 25, 2018.

Sobi had earlier told the investigators that Thiruvananthapuram airport gold smuggling accused Sarith was at the accident site.

Sobi had not made this revelation when the state crime branch was investigating the case. Also, he altered the statement that he had seen some bags being shifted from one vehicle to another.

In his new account, Sobi has stated that he saw Balabhaskar’s car being attacked by goons near a petrol station, 3 km ahead of Pallipuram, near Thiruvananthapuram.

He said he was on his way to Tirunelveli from Chalakudy.

The employees of the pump, the police and the people, who were first responders to the car crash, denied any such incident.

This is Sobi’s statement: I had stopped inside the petrol pump at Karakode for some rest. A couple of people on a car parked outside the pump were drinking. A blue Innova vehicle stopped near this vehicle. The men in the other car, armed with iron rods, approached the blue car. They seemed to talk first and then smashed the windows with the rods. I could see a man, head hunched, in the front seat. It was 3:30 am then. At 4 am, I resumed my journey but saw the blue car had crashed onto a tree at Pallipuram. As I slowed down, a couple of people armed with daggers and swords approached and asked us to drive past.

Sobi said Sarith was also present at the ‘accident site adding that a prominent artiste was present too.

The employees of the petrol pump had told the CBI the pump was not open after 11 pm and there was not enough light there. The CBI also collected details from Aji, a driver with the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), who arrived at the scene minutes after the accident and the policemen attached to the Mangalapuram (a place near Thiruvananthapuram) police station.

Sobi had told the CBI that he was ready for a lie-detector test.

Sobi’s incisive statements

Sobi shot to fame when he issued a couple of incisive statements after Balabhaskar’s death. These included the ‘goon attack’ one and that he had seen a person ‘who looked like Sarith.’ The CBI had summoned Sobi to the Thiruvananthapuram office to get the detailed statement earlier. This evidence-gathering is consequent to that, sources said.

Sobi had earlier given his statements to the Crime Branch as well. He had then stated that he saw ‘two people’ at the accident site in a suspicious circumstance. He had not mentioned the ‘goon attack’ then. The CBI would also look into the contradictions in the statement.

Accident day

On the fateful day, Balabhaskar’s car rammed a wall near Pallipuram. His wife, Lakshmi, and a friend Arjun escaped with injuries but the couple’s child died on the spot. Balabhaskar died in a hospital subsequently.

Sobi had told the Crime Branch that he had passed the location after 10 minutes of the accident. He said he had not known then that it was Balabhaskar’s car.

He said there was a small crowd at the accident site. Sobi said he noticed a man running on the left side and another pushing a two-wheeler on the right. Sobi said he reduced the speed of his vehicle thinking the people around would be the kin of the accident victims. No one waved at the vehicle to stop, he added.

Sobi said he felt suspicious right then and a man banged on the bonnet of his car and screamed at him to move the vehicle forward.

He said he saw a man clearly and he was wearing a red t-shirt and had a spectacle on him. Sobi said this was Sarith and he had his hands in his pocket. He looked calm. Sobi said he distinctly remembered ‘Sarith’ because all the others were hurling expletives at him but Sarith stood there watching.