Who is Vikram Chatterjee and what happened on the night of Sonika Chauhan's death

Vikram Chatterjee, who was absconding for about a month, was arrested by the Kolkata Police on Thursday, July 6, in connection with the murder of model and TV anchor Sonika Chauhan. He was earlier charged with 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder', which is a non-bailable offence under Section 304 of the IPC. The Bengali actor will be presented before the court on Friday, July 7.

While a lot has been written on the tragic incident and the arrest, not many are know much about the accused, Vikram.

Also read: Model Sonika Chauhan death case: Actor Vikram Chatterjee arrested

Who is Vikram Chatterjee?

• Vikram is a Bengali film actor and had made his debut with a small role in 2012 movie Bedroom for which he received a lot of appreciation.
• The same year, Vikram bagged the lead role in Elar Char Adhyay. He went on to work on several big projects including Shaheb Bibi Golaam and became a prominent face in the Bengali film industry.
• Before venturing into films, the actor gained immense popularity with his TV show, Saat Pake Bandha, so much so that his character became a household name among the Bengali community.
• He had also participated in Bengali controversial reality show Bigg Boss in 2013.

What happened on the ill-fated day which led to Sonika Chauhan losing her life?

On April 29 midnight, Sonika and Vikram Chatterjee were returning from a pub in Kolkata when they met with an accident near Lake Mall on Rashbehari Avenue in South Kolkata. It was Vikram who was behind the wheels and he was allegedly under the influence of alcohol. Sonika died in the accident while Vikram sustained minor injuries. Although he had initially denied being drunk and speeding the car, he later admitted to drinking.

The incident turned into in a big controversy after Vikram, who was immediately arrested after the accident, was released on bail.

Last month, the police were unable to contact Vikram and they realised that he was absconding. Later, the Kolkata Police moved the Alipore court seeking the addition of Section 304 of the IPC under which the actor was charged with "culpable homicide not amounting to murder".

It was only on Wednesday, July 5, that the police got information about his whereabouts and managed to arrest him. "He was missing for some time and on Wednesday we got the information that he was travelling in a radio taxi. We immediately alerted our officers and managed to arrest him. On Friday, he will be produced in Alipore Court," a senior police officer told News18.