Karan Joseph death: Musician's family breaks silence after 15 months

In their first ever interview since the mysterious death of musician Karan Joseph his family members have laid bare all the ordeals they have suffered in the past year They revealed how on one hand the police kept them in the dark about the investigation into their sons death while on the other prime suspect Rishi Shah allegedly hounded them with calls and threats They said Rishi even roped in a former minister from Karnataka to ask them to meet himIn the past Karans family members had refused to speak directly to the media solely issuing press statements as they waited for clearer answers to emerge from the police investigation into their sons death But for over a year the only answer the police have parroted at them is The investigation is onFrom right Karan Joseph with his mother Tina and brother AshikFed up of being fed the same script again and again the Josephs have finally decided to break their silence with an exclusive interview with midday Karans brother Ashik said I have never spoken publicly about my brothers death Nobody knows how painful it was for the whole family But now its been more than a year and we deserve to know what exactly happened on September 9 2017He added We do not have any reasons to believe that Karan committed suicide But whenever we call the Mumbai Crime Branch to get the details of the case the only thing they say is that the investigation is underway and they are awaiting some reports We suspect there is foul play involved that is why we have decided to speak up nowDr J Alexander former chief secretary and minister KarnatakaHounded by RishiWhile the police refuse to tell them anything ironically the prime suspect Rishi Shah Karans flatmate and music entrepreneur the one person they want nothing to do with has hounded them with callsAshik said I know my brother he was always scared of heights He wouldnt jump from the 12th floor Rishi Shah is the only person responsible for his death If not murder at the very least I would say Rishi is guilty of torturing Karan to the extent that he committed suicideRishis friend Suzana Usma and manager Vidhi Shah were present in the apartment at the time of the incident and were the sole witnesses to Karans death I saw the message Rishi sent to Vidhi a day later stating I am going to jail Vidhi responded saying Dont worry nothing will happen Soon after my brothers death they Rishi and Vidhi called us more than once threatening us with consequences Ashik alleged that his mother even received a call from Rishis mother requesting to discuss the case but his parents refusedWhy rope in a ministerThe family got more alarmed however when Rishi allegedly began to rope in powerful people to try and influence them Around five to six months after the incident former Karnataka minister Dr J Alexander even called on his behalf while Rishi was seated next to him The former minister asked my parents to meet Rishi in Bangalore My parents refused If he didnt do anything why did he ask a former minister to reach out to us for him isnt it fishy asked AshikRishi tried to reach out to the family again as recently as two months ago Ashik recalled He called my mother claiming he has some recordings of Karans music and somebody was offering Rs1 crore for them He said he didnt want to give them to anyone else and was calling to give us all of Karans music We immediately informed the Mumbai Police in writing about this He should have informed us about it earlier Why was he bringing it up only nowRishis attempts to contact them have not been appreciated by the Josephs who have raised several questions about his role in Karans death in the past From day one he Rishi did everything to emotionally blackmail all of us asking to speak to us added AshikThe other sideDr J Alexander former chief secretary and minister Karnataka said I know Rishis parents I also know that Rishi and Karan were great friends and admired each other I came to know that Karans parents were quite friendly with Rishi and that Karans mother had stayed at Rishis apartment in Mumbai for a few days It is true that I spoke to Karans father but only to request him to chat with Rishi just to listen to what he has to say about the incident It is not true that Rishi was with me This is all that I have to state All that Rishi Shah said was I dont want to speak about thisRishi had dangled Karan from balconyKarans mother Tina raised doubts about the probe Days before Karans death on September 5 he was spotted dangling from his balcony A woman who lives one floor below Karans flat told me she saw a bald and thin boy dangling from the balcony and she heard a lot of crying and screaming When she went upstairs and knocked on the door Rishi told her everything was fine Why didnt the police find this fishy How come the cops were convinced by Rishis claims that Karan was trying to retrieve some money that had fallen on the parapet Tina said I was quiet for more than a year because I knew my son would never return no matter what I did But we deserve a satisfactory answer about his deathNow crime branch sources told midday that during questioning they found that Rishi was the one who had strung him from the balcony on September 5 for fun In our investigations we found that Rishi had tied Karan with a dog leash and dangled him from the balcony for fun Rishis house help Vinod also helped by holding Karans legs Rishi told everyone to hide this from the police to avoid getting in trouble But this has nothing to do with Karans death on September 9Also readMumbai One year after Karan Josephs death his father asks cops about case progressCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates