Pune, Oct 27 (Agencies) : City-based hotelier Ajay Chordia (48), chairman and managing director of Panchshil Hotels Ltd, was found dead in his hotel in Chinchwad on Monday afternoon. Stating that primary investigation was pointing to suicide, police said Chordia’s body was found hanging and that a note was found near the body.
According to the police, the incident came to light around 2 pm when Chordia’s body was found hanging near a fire duct adjacent to his office on the 12th floor of his Double Tree hotel. He was immediately rushed to a private hospital in Pimpri where he was declared dead on arrival. Sources close to the family said it was Chordia’s birthday on Sunday.
A senior police officer said: “Prima facie this is a case of suicide. His body was found hanging with a strip of curtain cloth near the fire duct. But we will be able to confirm this only after we get the post-mortem report and a primary probe is conducted into various other aspects. We will also be speaking to family members and staffers of the hotel for more details.”
Additional Commissioner of Police Prakash Mutyal said: “The probe is at a very preliminary stage. We have found a note. But at this stage we cannot discuss the contents, nor can we confirm that it is his handwriting.”
A doctor at the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital, who did not wish to be named, said: “Primary observations suggest death has occurred due to hanging.” The post-mortem examination was on at the hospital till last reports came in.
Chordia was the managing director of Panchshil Hotels Limited that managed the Double Tree by Hilton property in Chinchwad. He was also an executive committee member of the Hotels and Restaurant Association (HRA), Western India. His brother Atul Chordia runs the Panchshil Realty, which has constructed some of the biggest and most luxurious projects in Pune.
Ganesh Shetty, president of Pune Hoteliers and Restaurant Association, said Chordia was an active member of the association. “He had worked hard to ensure the HRA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Pune was a success,” he said.
Family members confirmed Chordia’s death but refused to comment more on the matter.
Chordia is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. The funeral will be conducted on Tuesday noon after his daughter, who is in the UK, arrives in Pune.