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A widow of an Indian billionaire, who was also a friend of Prince William, is locked in a contentious inheritance battle with her in-laws following her husband’s death from allegedly ingesting a bee.
Sunjay Kapur, 53, collapsed in front of horrified teammates during a game at Guards Polo Club in Windsor on June 12.
Indian-born Mr Kapur is thought to have been stung in the mouth by a bee, which caused an allergic reaction and then a fatal heart attack.
The businessman was the heir to a car parts giant founded by his father and worth £2.7billion – Sona Comstar.
His shock death has since plunged the automotive empire – which is one of India’s most highly-esteemed – into a bitter succession battle.
His third wife, Priya Sachdev, is now in a heated argument with his mother, Rani Kapur. Rani is receiving support from her daughters, Mandhira Kapur Smith and Superna Kapur Motwane.
Mrs. Kapur, at 80 years old and a former chairwoman of the firm, has alleged she was pressured into relinquishing control of her son’s business shortly after his passing.
In a letter penned to the board on July 24, she also questioned the circumstances of her son’s death.
She also accused those within the firm of exploiting the family’s grief to ‘wrestle control’ of the Sona Comstar.
Sunjay Kapur, 53, collapsed in front of horrified teammates during a game at Guards Polo Club in Windsor on June 12
His third wife Priya Sachdev Kapur (pictured, right), is in a bitter inheritance feud with his sisters and mother
Sunjay Kapur, 53, pictured with his mother Rani Kapur, who claims she was coerced into giving up control of her son’s firm days after his death
Her daughter Mandhira echoed the same accusation to the Times Now channel, claiming her mother was in a room ‘with a bunch of people’.
‘I was banging on the door outside trying to open it. My mother later said “I don’t know what I’ve signed”,’ she said.
Priya Sachdev was appointed as a non-executive director during the company’s annual general meeting on July 25, just a day following the delivery of Mrs. Kapur’s reported letter to the board.
The meeting had also gone ahead despite the 80-year-old’s objections and request to delay the meeting
In this letter, also addressed to India’s market regulatory authority, Mrs. Kapur stated that her late husband, having passed away in 2015, designated her as the sole inheritor of his estate and the main shareholder of the Sona Group.
The company said Mrs Kapur had not been a shareholder for six years and said she was not majority shareholder of the group.
She and her two daughters now claim they have been ‘excluded’ from the family company after playing a key role in its growth.
“My mother was a co-founder of Sona with my father. Suggesting to her now—at her age of 80—that she has no involvement with the company she helped create is ludicrous,” Kapur Smith shared with The Times.
Mr Kapur’s widow is yet to speak publicly regarding the claims made by her late husband’s family, but a family pal, said she had been left appalled.
An insider close to the widow, who spoke highly of Mr Kapur (Pictured in 2013), describing him as ‘great fun to be with’, said they felt for Ms Sachdev amid the ‘ghastly power struggle’
Dubbing it a ‘s*** show’, and a ‘battle for money’, the source said: ‘By making a public spectacle of this feud, [the sisters] hope to force Priya’s hand into settling.’
An insider close to the widow, who spoke highly of Mr Kapur, describing him as ‘great fun to be with’, said they felt for Ms Sachdev amid the ‘ghastly power struggle’
His sister Ms Kapur Smith refuted the claims, saying the row was about ‘legacy, about honesty, the truth and integrity and what the family stands for’
Sona Comstar has denied any wrongdoing, saying there were no documents sent or signed by Rani Kapur. The Daily Mail has approached Sona Comstar for comment.
It said it had requested the 80-year-old cease sharing ‘false, malicious and damaging’ statements’ via a legal notice.
It comes as Ms Sachdev’s office shared the coroner’s report which confirmed that her husband had died of natural causes following his mother’s previous claims.
The report said he died from ventricular hypertrophy and ischaemic heart disease and the investigation was closed.
Ms Kapur wrote to the UK authorities calling for an investigation into his death, which was rejected.
It comes as Ms Sachdev’s office shared the coroner’s report which confirmed that her husband had died of natural causes following his mother’s previous claims (Pictured: Mr Kapur in 2014)
The University of Buckingham graduate married Priya Sachdev Kapur, a former model and entrepreneur with whom he had a son named Azarias Kapur born in 2018.
Mr Kapur died as his Aureus team were playing in a semi-final match in the Cartier Queen’s Cup against Sujan Indian Tigers.
The match started at 3pm on Tuesday, June 12 at the club’s Smith’s Lawn grounds.
The club is closely associated with the Royal family. Prince Philip was the club’s president from the time it was founded in January 1955 until his death in April 2021 – holding the role for 66 years. King Charles became the club’s new president last year.
In a statement the club said its chairman Lieutenant Colonel Sean O’Dwyer along with ‘directors and members’ were ‘shocked to learn that Sunjay Kapur, owner of the Aureus polo team, died after becoming unwell when playing in a match at Smith’s Lawn’.
The statement added: ‘The club sends its deepest condolences to his widow, Priya Sachdev, his children, the wider Kapur family and his Aureus team-mates.’
