INDIA. Mumbai: The Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) will investigate the accidental death of former Chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry at Palghar on Sunday, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.
The DGP Rajnish Seth has been asked to conduct an inquiry and file a report soon, Fadnavis told the media. Offering his condolences, Fadnavis said that the country had lost an enthusiastic and humble industrialist.
Cyrus Mistry’s Mercedes (No MH- 47-AB- 6705) rammed into the divider of the Surya river Bridge at Charoti Naka, 105 km north of Mumbai, under the Kasa police station limits.
Mistry and Jahangir Dinshaw Pandole (whose family owned the soft drinks brand Duke’s before they sold it to PepsiCo) got killed in a fatal road accident. Cyrus Mistry (54) is survived by his wife Rohiqa, elder brother Shapoor Mistry and other family members.
Dr Anahita Pandole was driving the car. She is a gynaecologist at south Mumbai’s Breach Candy hospital. Anahita and her husband Darius Pandole (60), who were in the front seats, suffered grievous injuries but survived the crash. At the same time, Mistry and Jahangir Pandole (brother of Darius) were killed in the accident. Mistry and Jahangir were in the back seats. They had visited the Iranshah Atash Behram at Udvada on Sunday morning.
The bodies of Cyrus Mistry and Jahangir Pandole were initially shifted to the Kasa Rural Hospital and later brought to J J Hospital in South Mumbai for autopsy late Sunday evening.
Anahita and Darius suffered multiple fractures and were shifted to the Rainbow multi-speciality tertiary care hospital in Vapi in Gujarat. Darius is the managing director of JM Financial’s private equity business and was once a junior national squash champion.
Soon after the accident, the Motor Vehicle department inspected the vehicle. “We can’t say much; we will give a report; we just inspected the car. Further probe is underway,” Motor Vehicle Inspector Manisha More said.
The police have termed it as an “over-speeding case”, which may have led to the accident, especially since Palghar and surrounding regions have been receiving heavy rains since Saturday.
According to Palghar Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil, Anahita Pandole was at the wheel when the accident occurred. He said more details would be obtained from the persons admitted to the hospital. It seems to be an accident. He added that the two at the back didn’t seem to have had their seat belts on.
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde expressed his shock over Mistry’s death. “Shocked to hear about the passing away of former Tata Sons chief Cyrus Mistry. He was not only a successful entrepreneur but also was seen in the industry as a young, bright and visionary personality. It’s a great loss… My heartfelt tribute”, he said. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, NCP MP Supriya Sule, leader of the Opposition NCP MLA Ajit Pawar and many others condoled the tragic death.
N Chandrasekaran, currently Chairman, Tata Sons, said Mistry’s sudden and untimely demise deeply saddened him. “He had a passion for life, and it is a tragedy that he passed away at such a young age. My deepest condolences and prayers for his family in these difficult times”, he said.
Cyrus Mistry has been in key positions of the corporates in India- from being the managing director of construction giant Shapoorji Pallonji Group to taking over as the chairman of Tata Sons in 2012, succeeding Ratan Tata. The news of his demise sent shockwaves in Indian corporate and political circles, and many reacted with initial disbelief.
Also Read: Cyrus Mistry Dies in a Road Accident
