Tata Sons' former chairman Cyrus Mistry was killed in a car crash when he was on his way to Mumbai from Iranshah Atash Behram fire temple in Gujarat's Udvada.

Mistry was travelling with his family friends, the Pandoles. Anahita Pandole, a gynaecologist at Breach Candy Hospital, was behind the wheel when the accident happened, according to the police. Her husband, Darius Pandole, managing director and chief executive of JM Financial Private Equity, was seated on the front passenger seat.

Darius's brother Jehangir Pandole, a director in the London Office of KPMG's Global Strategy Group, was sitting beside Mistry in the backseat of the ill-fated Mercedes GLC 220 D.

While Mistry and Jehangir died soon after the car rammed into a divider in Palghar district of Maharashtra, the other two were injured and are currently undergoing treatment in a hospital.

Mistry and the Pandoles had gone to Udwada, where Parsis have their main fire temple, to pray for Pandole brothers' father Dinshaw Pandole, who died just a week ago.

Mistry's father and former chairman of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Pallonji Mistry, too had passed away at the age of 93 in June. The Shapoorji Pallonji Group had completed the renovation of the Iranshah Atash Behram fire temple last year.

The Mistry family is the single largest shareholder in Tata Sons with an 18.4% stake.

Cyrus Mistry was identified to be Ratan Tata's successor by a selection committee, of which Tata himself was a part, in 2011. He assumed the top job at Bombay House, the group's iconic headquarters in South Mumbai in 2013.

However, the relationship between the two soured after Mistry took certain decisions to shutter some non-remunerative businesses and not honour certain commitments made by Tata in the interest of turning around the struggling businesses of the group. It was alleged that Mistry was deliberately trying to tamper with his illustrious predecessor's legacy.

Darius, who served as a non-executive independent director on the board of Tata Global Beverages, too resigned in December 2016, soon after Mistry was removed from the chairmanship of Tata Sons. Pandole had voted against the resolution for Mistry's ouster.

Before he joined the Tata group, Mistry had relinquished day-to-day operational control of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, his family business that has interests ranging from engineering and construction to real estate, in favour of his brother Shapoor Mistry.

Two years after his removal as chairman of Tata Sons, Mistry announced his next innings as an entrepreneur. He created Mistry Ventures with an intention to provide strategic insights and advice to businesses, incubate new ventures, and provide seed, early stage and growth capital to startups in India and globally.

However, Mistry's attempt to avenge the hurt pride fell flat earlier this year. The Supreme Court dismissed the petitions filed by Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investments Pvt Ltd to review the apex court's March 2021 judgment, which upheld Mistry's removal as chairman of Tata Sons.

Darius Pandole

Cyrus Mistry dies in car crash: Here's what we know about his co-passengers