After common friends of actor Bikram Chatterjee and deceased celebrated model Sonika Chauhan, the driver of the app cab who took them to hospital on the night of the accident also told the police that he too had felt that Bikram was in an inebriated state on the fateful night of the accident.
The investigating officers have questioned the app-based cab driver in Tollygunge police station on Friday. A police officer said the app-based cab was waiting near Lake Mall to pick up a person at around 3.30 am on April 29 when the accident took place. He went near the ill-fated car after hearing a sound of collision. He found Sonika and Bikram crying for help. But Bikram came out of the car after getting a bit of support but they had to carry Sonika to the app-based cab to take her to the hospital.
Some of the local people advised to take them to a private hospital on the EM Bypass but the driver of the app-based cab had advised to take Sonika to another private hospital which is nearer. The app-based cab driver had returned near Lake Mall after leaving Bikram and Sonika in the hospital and found police in the spot inspecting the damaged car.
The driver told to the police that Bikram's attitude and way of talking while travelling in the car made him feel that he was in an inebriated state.
The driver had also found two smartphones, two packets of expensive cigarettes and a purse containing good amount of cash on the rear seat of the Toyota Altis. Following instruction from Bikram, he had also searched the car and found Bikram's cell phone with blood stains on it from inside the car. He had handed over Bikram his cell phone and somehow Sonika's cell phones had reached to her parents through actors Solanki and Anindya Chatterjee. The police have found the cell phones from Sonika's parents on Thursday night.
Moreover, the police have also come to know that Bikram had failed to apply the brakes properly when he had realised that there could be an accident. At the same time, the police are trying to find why the air bags had failed to come out as the car had undergone some repairing after another accident a few days ago.