Cyrus Mistry did not wear seat belt, speeding cause of accident: Police

Mumbai: Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and a co-passenger killed in a car crash were not wearing seat belts, as per a preliminary probe, and speeding and the "error of judgment" by the driver caused the accident, a police official said.

Prima facie, the luxury car was speeding when the accident took place on Sunday afternoon, he said.

The Mercedes car covered a distance of 20 km in just nine minutes after crossing the Charoti check post in Maharashtra's Palghar district, 120 km away from Mumbai, the official said on Sunday night.

The car hit a road divider on a bridge over the Surya river, killing Mistry (54) and Jahangir Pandole on the spot.

Mistry was returning to Mumbai from Ahmedabad when the tragedy struck at 2.30 pm.

The car was driven by Mumbai-based gynaecologist Anahita Pandole (55).

She and her husband Darius Pandole (60) were seriously injured in the accident.

Mistry and Jahangir were in the back seats. Darius was in the front seat with Anahita.

Jahangir, director of Global Strategy Group at KPMG’s London office, and Darius, Managing Director and CEO of JM Financial Private Equity, are brothers. 

Darius has previously served as a non-executive independent director on the board of Tata Global Beverages.

"As per the preliminary investigation, speeding and the error of judgment caused the car accident. Both the deceased were not wearing seat belts," the official said.

"While analysing the footage captured by CCTV cameras at the Charoti check post, Palghar police found the car had crossed the check post at 2.21 pm and the accident took place 20 km ahead (in the direction of Mumbai)," he said.

This shows the car covered a distance of 20 km (from the check post) in just nine minutes, the official said, adding that the accident took place at 2.30 pm on the Surya river bridge.

An eye-witness had said a woman was driving the car and tried to overtake another vehicle from the left side, but lost control and crashed into the road divider.

The bodies of Mistry and Jahangir were sent to the state-run J J Hospital in Mumbai for postmortem, the official said.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, has asked police to conduct a detailed investigation into the accident.