On Sunday afternoon, Cyrus Mistry, the former CEO of Tata Sons, was killed in a mishap on National Highway 48 in the Palghar region of Maharashtra. Mistry (54) was travelling from Gujarat to Mumbai with three other people.
Around 3.15 pm, a Mercedes swerved out of control, collided with a road divider, and slammed into a wall on the Charoti bridge over the Surya river, killing two people, including Jehangir Pandole, Director at KPMG Global Strategy Group.
Leading Mumbai gynaecologist Dr. Anahita Pandole, who was driving the car, and her husband Darius Pandole, who was in the front passenger seat, were both seriously hurt in the collision. They were transported to a private hospital in Vapi, Gujarat, and are now there.
The late Jehangir Pandole’s sister-in-law is Dr. Anahita Pandole. Jehangir Pandole was seated next to Mistry in the Mercedes’ back seat, which was behind her. Internal wounds caused the deaths of both men.
“The two deceased seated in the back were not wearing seat belts due to which their airbags did not activate,” a police official from Palghar’s Kasa stated. They became trapped between the front and back seats when the car crashed.
The Mistrys are close friends with the Pandoles. Managing Director and CEO of the PE & Equity AIFs at JM Financial is Darius Pandole. When Mistry was fired from his position as head of the Tata Group, he resigned from the board of Tata Global Beverages Limited (TGBL), where he had previously served.
Dr. Anahita Pandole is another activist who brought a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against unlawful hoardings in Mumbai to the High Court.
The severely injured Pandole couple was transported to Rainbow Hospital in Vapi by police officer Yogesh Avtar. “Anahita Pandole and Darius Pandole were brought to our hospital in a very terrible state,” hospital doctor Tejas Shah said. Their blood pressure had decreased, and so had their oxygen saturation levels. They are traumatised and have several fractures. Their BP and O2 saturation, however, have improved. We have been informed that a medical team from Mumbai is visiting them.
According to sources in Mumbai, Darius Pandole’s airway became blocked as a result of a bilateral jaw fracture. According to a source, the jaw was removed by a maxillofacial surgeon, and as a result, his airway is now clear and he is stable.