In present paper a new compact star model in f(R,T) gravity is obtained where R and T denote the Ricci scalar and the trace of energy-momentum tensor $T_{\mu \nu}$ respectively. To develop the model we consider the spherically symmetric space-time along with anisotropic fluid distribution in presence of electric field with $f(R,T) = R + 2\gamma T$ where $\gamma$ is a small positive constant. We have used the Chaplygin equation of state to explore the stellar model. The field equations for $f(R,T)$ gravity have been solved by employing the Krori-Barua ansatz already reported in literature [J. Phys. A, Math. Gen. 8:508, 1975]. The exterior spacetime is described by Reissner-Nordstrom line element for smooth matching at the boundary. It is worthwhile to mention here that the values of all the constants involved with this model have been calculated for the strange stars 4U 1538-52 for different values of {\gamma} with the help of matching conditions. The acceptability of the model is discussed in details both analytically and graphically by studying the physical attributes of matter density, pressures, anisotropy factor, stability etc. We have also obtained the numerical values in tabular form for central density, surface density, central pressure and central adiabatic index for different values of $\gamma$. The solutions of the field equations in Einstein gravity can be regained by simply putting $\gamma = 0$ to our solution. Moreover, the proposed model is shown to be physically admissible and corroborate with experimental observations on strange star candidates such as 4U 1538-52.