Mumbai: Avtar Saini, the former Intel India head, who played a pivotal role in designing the Pentium processor, died on Wednesday morning following an accident in Navi Mumbai, media reports said.

The 68-year-old was riding his bicycle with a group of cyclists around 5:50 am on Palm Beach Road in Nerul when a speeding taxi struck his bicycle from behind, NDTV reported.

Witnesses reported that Saini's bicycle became lodged under the car, and he was dragged for a distance as the driver attempted to flee the scene.

The cab driver was nabbed by the other cyclists and turned over to the police. Police have filed a case of reckless driving and causing death due to negligence against him. However, police noted that he has not yet been arrested, the report said.

Saini was a resident of Chembur and lived alone after his wife passed away three years ago.

He was due to visit his son and daughter, who live in the US, next month.

Gokul V Subramaniam, the president of Intel India, expressed his sorrow on Saini's passing.

He said that the prolific inventor would be fondly remembered as a valuable mentor at Intel.

"At Intel, we are deeply saddened by the demise of former country manager and director of Intel South Asia, Avtar Saini. Avtar played a key role in setting up the Intel R&D center in India. Avtar will be remembered as a prolific inventor, an outstanding leader and a valuable mentor," he wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

Saini was Intel India’s vice president from 1982 to 2004 when he helped design several processors, including Intel 386, Intel 486, and the popular Pentium processor.