The Kerala Police on Sunday said they had ample evidence to conclude that violinist Balabhaskar was at the wheel when he was mortally injured in a car accident at Pallippuram here in the early hours of September 25.
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(The musician died at a private hospital on October 2. His one-and-a-half-year-old daughter died on the spot. His wife Lakshmi and Arjun, driver, survived the crash with debilitating injuries.)
The accident occurred when the car careened off the carriageway and rammed a hardwood avenue tree on the right side of the road. The collision mangled the vehicle, trapping the passengers inside.
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P. Anil Kumar, Dy.SP, Attingal, told The Hindu that a passing motorist from Kollam was among the first to come to the rescue of the passengers. The driver of a KSRTC bus from Ponnani depot helped him along with an 18-year-old student who lived nearby. The police located them with the help of the mobile phone numbers provided by a local journalist. At least five other persons who helped extricate the injured from the vehicle also gave their statements to the police.
Mr. Kumar said the witnesses stated that they saw Balabhaskar at the wheel. Lakshmi was riding shot-gun with their daughter and Arjun was in the rear seat.
The family was driving non-stop from Thrissur. They had halted briefly at Kollam from where Balabhaskar took the wheel from Arjun. At the time of the accident, the vehicle was travelling well over the legal speed limit. The police said they suspected that Balabhaskar nodded off at the wheel, causing the car to veer to the right and ram the mahogany tree.
The first of the rescuers broke the windscreen of the van to extricate the occupants. Soon, emergency services arrived and transported the injured persons to the hospital.
Mr. Kumar said forensic experts who examined the scene have concurred with the version of the eyewitnesses. They had concluded that traumatic injuries to the head and chest had caused Balabhaskar’s death.
Father’s complaint
Recently, Balabhaskar’s father C.K. Unnikrishnan, 75, had moved State Police Chief Loknath Behera stating that he suspected foul play in the accident . Moreover, Lakshmi had told the police that Arjun was at the wheel at the time of the accident. The police said they would report their findings to higher authorities and the court after tying up loose ends if any.