KOLKATA: Actor Vikram Chatterjee has been charged by Kolkata Police with culpable homicide not amounting to murder in place of the earlier charges of rash driving and causing death by negligence in the car accident in which his co-rider model Sonika Chauhan was killed.
"Going by the report of the forensic test conducted on the car it was found that it was travelling at a speed between 93 km per hour to 105 km per hour when the accident happened last month. The actor has been charged under Section 304 of the IPC," a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.
"As IPC Section 304 is a non-bailable section we will apply for rejection of his (Vikram's) bail on his scheduled appearance in court on June 7," the officer added.
A city court had yesterday granted Kolkata Police's appeal to slap section 304 of IPC on Chatterjee.
The charge if proved is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Chatterjee was earlier charged with a milder Section 279 of the IPC (rash driving) and Section 304A (causing death by negligence) by Kolkata Police. If proved it would have led to a maximum two-year jail term.
In the early hours of April 29, the car with Vikram at the wheel and Sonika seated beside him swerved and crashed into the pavement while allegedly over-speeding along Rashbehari Avenue in south Kolkata.