Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry dies in car accident

Mistry was travelling from Gujarat to Mumbai in a car when the accident took place. Credit: Special Arrangement

Billionaire business tycoon Cyrus Mistry, who was a scion of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group and a former Chairman of Tata Sons, and his close family friend died in a road accident in the Palghar district of Maharashtra on Sunday.

Besides Mistry, the other victim was Jahangir Pandole, whose family were among the founders of Duke's brand of beverages.

Mistry and Pandole died on the spot, according to eyewitnesses.

The other occupants of the car were Jahangir’s brother Darius Pandole, the MD and CEO of JM Financial Asset Management Ltd and his wife Anahita Pandole, a gynaecologist at the Breach Candy Hospital and a fertility expert.

The accident took place around 3.30 PM when they were travelling in a Mercedes car and hit a divider along the Surya river stretch on Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway - around 100 kms away from Mumbai.

Read | Cyrus Mistry, a tycoon who did not see eye-to-eye with Tatas

"Four people were inside the car, out of them two people died on the spot and two were shifted to a hospital,” said Palghar Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil. “The inquest panchnama has been done,” he said, adding that he would be able to comment only after the postmortem report.

The Palghar police has registered an accidental death report and investigations are underway.

Reports said that it was a case of over-speeding, however, an official version from police is awaited.

Asked about the cause, he said: “Our team of experts and people from the RTO are working…only after that we would be able to comment on anything or elaborate on the reasons.”

Anahita Pandole was on the wheels when the accident took place and the victims were at the rear seats. The air-bags too had popped up but the crash was devastating.

The bodies of Mistry and Pandole have been taken to the sub-district hospital in Kasa, while the Pandole couple have been shifted to the Rainbow Hospital in Vapi in Gujarat, where they are undergoing treatment.

The mortal remains would be taken to the Sir JJ Hospital in Mumbai for postmortem, after which it would be handed over to the families.

The Mistrys and Pandoles are family friends.

The Pandole brothers lost their father Dinshaw Pandole, last week.

They had been to Udvada in Valsad district over the weekend where they visited the Iranshah Atash Behram fire temple for post-funeral rites. The incident took place during the return journey.

The Maharashtra government has ordered a probe into the incident and sought a detailed report from the Palghar police.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio, spoke to Director General of Police Rajnish Seth and asked for a detailed probe. "It was an unfortunate accident in Palghar, I spoke to the DGP and instructed for detailed investigations," he said.