Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu has called for stricter safety measures in adventure sports after the death of a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu. Jeyesh Ram, the son of Mr Vembu's close friends, died in a paragliding accident in Kullu, Manali, on Friday.
"Way too many accidents happen with sickening regulatory there, and I am deeply saddened Jeyesh became the latest statistic," Mr Vembu, who attended the funeral, shared in a post on X. "Much stronger regulatory oversight required here," he added.
Jeyesh Ram, a resident of Vigneshwara Nagar in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, was on a tandem flight when his paraglider collided mid-air with another. The paraglider collapsed, causing a fatal fall. Mr Ram was declared dead on arrival at a hospital, and the pilot, Ashwani Kumar, sustained severe injuries and was referred to PGIMER, Chandigarh, for treatment.
Mr Ram was the founder of Tools Hub, a fast-growing hardware retail store franchise backed by Zoho, Mr Vembu said. Remembering the young entrepreneur, he described him as "a dashing young man, very kind to his employees and all those around him. He had the world ahead of him."
Mr Vembu also talked about Mr Ram's adventurous spirit. "He was a risk taker. So am I, but even at his age, I would do a risk analysis and would have declined paragliding in Kullu as too accident-prone," he wrote. The 57-year-old warned other young people to "avoid bad risks like this."
Preliminary investigations revealed the pilot attempted a 360-degree swirl, causing the collision. While the other glider managed to stabilise, Mr Ram's collapsed, resulting in the fall. "The victim's family has been informed about the incident," said Vikas Shukla, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Kullu, in a statement to The Indian Express. A magisterial probe has been ordered.
Sridhar Vembu urged regulators to take a "good look at this", saying, "I hope his death does not go in vain."
Seven paragliders, including foreigners, have died in Himachal Pradesh in the past 18 months. Paragliding at Gadsa was banned in January 2023 for safety issues but reopened a month later.
