Tata Motors managing director Karl Slym, 51, died early at the Shangri-La Hotel in the Thai capital where he was attending a board meeting, the company has confirmed.
"Initially, we can only assume that he committed suicide", Thai Police Lieutenant Somyot Boonnakaew told AFP. "The window was small and he had to try hard to get through it."
He said the apparent suicide letter, found at the scene, has been sent for analysis to confirm it was written by Slym.
Police believe his wife was in the room at the time of his death but said she was too "shocked" to answer questions. "She still cannot accept what has happened," said Somyot, adding the executive's body was with forensic analysts.
Slym's body was found by staff on a fourth floor balcony at the five-star US$200-a-night hotel, which said the "circumstances of the accident are under review by authorities."
Tata announced that Slym had died in a fall, while Indian press reports said Slym may have lost his balance and plunged to his death.
The Briton had been Tata's managing director since joining the country's leading car manufacturing group in 2012. In November Tata Motors, part of the giant steel-to-software Tata Group, said its quarterly net profit rose by 71% on the back of booming sales of its British luxury marque Jaguar Land Rover.
Slym had led Tata's operations in India and international markets, excluding the Jaguar and Land Rover businesses. He had previously been executive vice president of SGMW Motors, China, a General Motors joint venture, and had been president of General Motors in India.
Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge
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