Vikram Chatterjee arrested for ‘not cooperating’ with police

KOLKATA: In a dramatic arrest played out in the wee hours of Friday,

Kolkata Police

swooped down on actor Vikram Chatterjee near a mall in Kasba, not far from where he had hung out with model

Sonika Singh Chauhan

69 nights ago, and then taken a fatal drive that wrecked the car and killed the TV anchor.

Vikram was arrested on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and produced in Alipore court after a night in lock-up. An Alipore court later remanded him in police custody till July 10.

A joint team of

Tollygunge

police and detective department arrested the actor from Rajdanga in Kasba around 12.15 am. They claimed Vikram was scheduled to meet a couple of friends and take flight as he feared arrest.

Police had slapped the non-bailable culpable homicide charge (IPC section 304) against him on May 31, more than a month after Sonika died on April 29. Hours before his arrest, Calcutta high court had on Thursday fixed the hearing of his anticipatory bail on July 13. The petition had been filed on June 5.

With questions being raised on the timing and necessity of the arrest, the police at

Lalbazar

and the public prosecutor at Alipore court justified the move.

“After we added IPC section 304, we went to his residence several times in search of him. He was not there. We served him notices to contact the Tollygunge police but we received no response. Even his phone was switched off. The court had initially granted him bail on the condition that he would cooperate in the investigations and we found that ground had been violated,” said an IPS officer leading the probe.

At the Alipore court, public prosecutor Sourin Ghosal argued that Chatterjee misled investigators by claiming neither did he drink that night, nor was he speeding. He said appearing twice before police can’t be dubbed as cooperation. He said Chatterjee did not cooperate with investigators and prayed for three days’ police remand. “Merely attending two rounds of questioning does not indicate cooperation.”

The defence lawyers, led by Rajdeep Majumdar and Anirban Guha Thakurta, said the timing of the arrest was questionable. “On Thursday morning, the HC fixed a July 13 date to hear the anticipatory bail plea. He was arrested hours later. But all these days police didn’t find any reason to arrest him. He complied with police summons. Media hype and external pressure led police to add culpable homicide charges. This is an illegal arrest and we seek bail,” Guha Thakurta argued.

The legal arguments lasted well over 40 minutes before sixth judicial magistrate Monika Roy sent Chatterjee to police custody.

Police claimed the decision to arrest Chatterjee was taken after a fresh forensic report indicated that the bottle recovered from the boot of the actor’s car contained alcohol.

Joint commissioner of police (crime) Vishal Garg added that the high speed at which the car was being driven can be considered a deliberate act that caused death. “The reports have proved that the car was moving at a high speed. This can be considered a deliberate act; hence we moved court and the court accepted our prayer. We have booked Chatterjee under Section 304 of IPC. It is an extension of our probe,” he said.

Sonika’s parents Vijay and Sharon Singh Chauhan termed this as a big step to reveal truth and ensure justice.