Trend Guru

Ashok Kapur, non-executive chairman of Yes Bank, died at the Oberoi Trident, the five-star hotel at Nariman Point that the terrorists stormed on Wednesday evening.

More than 100 hostages were freed today from the Oberoi-Trident complex, but there were lingering fears that the list of the dead could include several city-based businessmen and executives.

Kapur and his wife had gone to the Oberoi Trident for dinner on Wednesday.

A well-known banker, he had started his career in 1962. He spent a large part of his career with ANZ Grindlays and was later responsible for the Asia-Pacific operations of ABN Amro before he teamed up with his brother-in-law Rana Kapoor to establish the private sector Yes Bank

Ashok Kapur had an 11.8 per cent stake in Yes Bank which chalked up a total income of Rs 1,665 crore and net profit of Rs 200 crore in the year ended March 31. It had advances of Rs 9,430 crore and deposits of Rs 13,273 crore.

Uma Garg (46), wife of Ispat director Vinod Garg, was another hostage who did not make it alive out of the Trident.

She had gone to the Kandahar — one of the restaurants at the hotel — for dinner along with her husband.

“She was separated from her husband and taken to the 13th floor where she was butchered along with other people,” said an Ispat senior executive. Vinod Garg managed to escape from the site of terror on Wednesday night.

Reports indicated that several city-based businessmen who ran small to mid-sized entities were killed in these terrorist attacks, including Sevantibhai Parekh’s son Sunil Parekh and his daughter-in-law Reshma. Parekh ran a pharmaceuticals business.

Several foreign executives and businessmen from different nationalities were also among those who lost their lives in the terror attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers and the Trident.

International news reports said Hisashi Truda (38), a section chief at Mitsui Marubeni Liquefied Gas Company, was shot dead. Greek businessman Andreas Liveras (73), who sold yachts, was also killed. Two Australian businessmen — Brett Taylor and Doug Markell who were a part of an international delegation — lost their lives.