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Tycoon and ex-Tata boss Cyrus Mistry dies in car crash

ByVishal Rajemahadik
Sep 05, 2022 01:16 AM IST

Also killed was Jehangir Pandole; gynaecologist Anahita Pandole, who was driving the Mercedes, and her husband Darius severely injured.

Mumbai: Business leader and former chairman of Tata Sons, Cyrus Mistry, died in a car accident on Sunday afternoon when he was on his way back to Mumbai from Parsi pilgrim town of Udvada. He was 54.

Cyrus Mistry (HT Photo)
Wrecked remains of a car being dragged by a crane in which former Chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry died in a crash, in Palghar on Sunday. (ANI)

Mistry was accompanied by three others: the renowned Mumbai gynecologist Dr Anahita Pandole, her husband Darius Pandole who is MD and CEO of JM Financial Private Equity, and Darius Pandole’s brother, Jehangir Pandole who was a director at London office of KPMG Global Strategy and who also died in the accident.

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Also read: Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran pays tribute to Cyrus Mistry: He had passion for life

The four of them had gone to the Iranshah Atash Behram at Udvada, confirmed the high priest of Udvada, Vada Dasturji Khurshed Dastoor. They had gone to offer prayers following the death of Darius and Jehangir Pandole’s father Dinshaw Pandole last week. At the time of the accident Dr Anahita Pandole was behind the wheel of the Mercedes GLC 220 D which is registered in the name of JM Financial Limited. Her husband Darius was sitting next to her while Cyrus Mistry and her brother-in-law Jehangir Pandole, were at the back.

It is not clear what caused the accident but police account suggests that around 3.30 pm on Sunday, as the grey Mercedes was crossing Charoti in Palghar on the outskirts of Mumbai, the driver lost control and the car swerved left and crashed into a concrete barricading wall. The impact of the crash completely destroyed the front of the car. Cyrus Mistry and Jehangir Pandole, both of whom were sitting at the back, died on the spot. Their bodies were taken to the nearby Kasa hospital for panchnama and later brought to Mumbai’s JJ Hospital for postmortem and other formalities. Sanjay Bobhade, civil surgeon at the Palghar hospital, said both men died of head injuries and severe internal bleeding. Anahita and Darius Pandole were shifted to Rainbow Hospital at Vapi which is 57 kilometres from the accident spot. Dr Pandole has sustained a “concerning” pelvic fracture and chest injuries, said doctors in Mumbai who are in touch with the Vapi hospital, while Darius Pandole has sustained multiple rib fractures, spine injuries and a fractured jaw. Both are reportedly stable and will be air-lifted to a Mumbai hospital on Monday morning.

Also read: Cyrus Sahukar on his wedding: 'No guest said khana acha nahin tha'

As word of Mistry’s sudden death spread, tributes to his business acumen, his leadership skills and his gentle nature, flooded in. From Prime Minister Modi to opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, from business tycoons like Gautam Adani to Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekharan—they all condoled his untimely death.

Mistry, who lost his father Pallonji Mistry in June this year, maintained a low profile after he stepped down as chairman Tata Sons. He and the Pandoles were family friends and all of them were alumni of Mumbai’s Cathedral and John Connon School.

“Cyrus Mistry’s passing is a shocking tragedy and an irreparable loss for the nation as well as the community,” said Anahita Subedar, editor Parsi Times. “As a miniscule and close-knit community, we deeply feel the loss of Cyrus, one of our contemporary greats.” While the Mistry family has been one of Mumbai’s leading Parsi families—Cyrus’s father Pallonji Mistry built some of post-independence Mumbai’s best-known buildings like the RBI, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the Homi Bhabha Auditorium among others, Darius and Jehangir Pandole’s family owned Dukes, the popular beverage company from Mumbai which was eventually sold to PepsiCo. Dr. Anahita Pandole is one of the city’s best-known gynaecologists, and the leading fertility expert who has been closely involved with the Jiyo Parsi initiative to improve the birth rate of the miniscule community. While Jehangir Pandole was single, Cyrus Mistry is survived by his wife Rohiqa Chagla, granddaughter of the renowned jurist MC Chagla, and their two sons, Firoz and Zahan.

(Inputs by Somita Pal)

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