Mistry's death: 'A gynaecologist was at the wheel; tried to overtake from wrong side'

A well-known gynaecologist in Mumbai was driving the car which crashed on a road divider on Sunday, killing former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and another occupant of the vehicle, as per preliminary reports. Mistry was 54.

Mistry, along with friends, was travelling from Ahmedabad to Mumbai in a Mercedes.

Mistry was in the backseat when the accident happened, which happened around 3 pm, at Palghar, about 120 km from Mumbai. The victims were lying unattended for almost 10 minutes before an ambulance came to the spot.

Primary information suggests that the car was over-speeding and tried to overtake another vehicle from the wrong side, a police officer at the spot.

The gynaecologist Anahita Pandole (55), and her husband Darius Pandole (60) survived the crash, while Mistry (54) and Jahangir Pandole, brother of Darius, were killed in the accident.

Jahangir is the brother of Darius, a former independent director of the Tata Group of companies who had opposed Cyrus Mistry’s removal as the chairman.

Mistry and Jahangir were in the backseats, the official said. Darius was in the front seat with Anahita, who was at the wheel.

A woman was driving the car and tried to overtake another vehicle from left side, but lost control and crashed into the road divider, according to eyewitnesses.

An eyewitness, who works in a roadside garage, told a Marathi channel: “We rushed to the accident spot but did not touch the vehicle or the injured persons. In 10 minutes, help came, and two injured persons were pulled out from the car and shifted by an ambulance to the hospital. The other two were dead,” he said.

Anahita Pandole and Darius Pandole were shifted to a private hospital in Vapi in Gujarat after the accident. “They are likely to be shifted to a Mumbai hospital on Monday morning,” a police official said.

Prime Minister, others pay tributes

Cyrus death has come as a second big blow to the influential family within a few months as his father Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, also called the Phantom of Bombay House for subtle but substantial influence he wielded at the Tata Group headquarters, had died in June.

The sudden death of Mistry, the first person outside the Tata pedigree to occupy the top position in the group, plunged the country’s business and political class into grief, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling it a “big loss to the world of commerce and industry”.

“The untimely demise of Shri Cyrus Mistry is shocking. He was a promising business leader who believed in India’s economic prowess,” Prime Minister Modi said in a tweet while offering condolences to his family and friends.

“Saddened by the tragic news of the demise of former chairman of Tata Sons, Cyrus Mistry. He was amongst the brightest business minds of the country, who made a significant contribution to Indias growth story. My heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and admirers,” former Congress president Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter.

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, the second person outside the Tata family to occupy the top position in the group, condoled the death of Mistry, a man who, he said, had a passion for life.

“I am deeply saddened by the sudden and untimely demise of Mr Cyrus Mistry. He had a passion for life, and it is really tragic that he passed away at such a young age,” Chandrasekaran said in a statement.

(With Agency inputs)