Model Sonika's death case: Actor Vikram charged with culpable homicide

Actor Vikram Chatterjee was previously accused of rash and negligent driving

Actor Vikram Chatterjee, who was previously accused of rash and negligent driving, has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the death of city model Sonika Chauhan in a car accident, police on Tuesday.

"Chatterjee has been charged under Section 304 of the IPC on Tuesday after police received a forensic report that shows the speed of the car was between 95 to 115 km per hour a few seconds before the accident," said Kolkata police's Joint Commissioner, Crime, Vishal Garg.

The actor was previously charged with rash driving (Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code) and causing death by negligence (Section 304A) after the accident, police said.

During the previous interrogation, he confessed to having consumed alcohol on the night of the accident, but claimed that he was not drunk and the car was not speeding.

Chatterjee was on the wheels of his car while his partner Sonika was on the front seat when the accident happened on a south Kolkata street on their way back from a party on April 29.

Sonika was rushed to a city hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. The actor himself sustained head injury in the accident and was hospitalised.