Thai police rules out murder in Karl Slym's death

Thai police today ruled out murder as the cause of the death of Tata Motors' Managing Director Karl Slym who fell from the 22nd floor of a five-star hotel here.

"We can rule out murder in this case," a police official said, adding that they were probing the case.

Slym, 51, died yesterday after he fell from the 22nd floor of the riverside Shangri-La hotel in Yannawa district.

A British national, Slym was here to attend a board meeting of the Thailand arm of the company and was to have checked out of the hotel yesterday.

Tata Motor officials here did not comment on the incident.

Slym was leading the company at a time when the auto industry was grappling with prolonged slowdown.

He joined the auto major in 2012 as part of a major management overhaul and was responsible for charting the company's strategy to regain momentum in the Indian market.

Before joining Tata Motors, Slym was the executive vice president, SGMW Motors, China (a General Motors Joint Venture). Prior to that, he was president, managing director and board member of General Motors in India during 2007-11.

For over two decades, Slym was with Toyota and General Motors in various positions across geographies.