Indian CEO of US tech company dies in stage mishap

The US-based Indian CEO and founder of a multinational software company died and its president was grievously injured when an iron cage contraption carrying them collapsed during a corporate event at Ramoji Film City (RFC) Thursday night. The accident occurred during the silver jubilee celebrations of Vistex Asia-Pacific Private Ltd.

Illinois-based CEO Sanjay Shah, 56, died of his injuries in a hospital here while the company’s president, Vishwanath Raju Datla, is battling for his life.

Vistex had booked rooms for its staff at RFC and was planning to hold the silver jubilee celebrations over two days. “Shah and Raju being lowered from the cage onto the dais was a planned event to kickstart the celebrations,” a company official said.

The accident took place at 7.40pm when Shah and Raju were being brought down from a height in the iron cage with the help of ropes and pulleys to the dais below. “Suddenly, one of the two wires attached to the cage snapped. Both plunged more than 15 feet and landed on the concrete dais. This caused multiple injuries,” sub-inspector D Karunakar Reddy of Abdullapurmet police station told TOI. “At the time of the accident, music was being played and Shah and Raju were waving to their staff while being lowered.”

They were rushed to a local hospital and later shifted to a corporate hospital when their condition deteriorated. Shah died a little while later.

The cage had iron wires on both sides, grills on three sides and an opening through which the guests entered it. “A rolling machine was pulling the cage when the strings broke. The compartment collapsed at great speed,” a police officer said.

A case has been registered under IPC sections 304A (causing death by a rash or negligent act) and 336 (endangering human life or personal safety of others). Those who were booked included the RFC management, its senior event manager, the chief manager (security), the contractor for special effects, and the rope operator.

Originally from Mumbai, Shah had set up revenue management solutions and services player Vistex Inc in 1999. The company has close to 1,600 employees and has a turnover of around $300 million. It counts Coca Cola, GE, Dow, Dell, Siemens, Adobe, Kellogg's, Abbott, Bayer, Yamaha, Sony, Nvidia, Kimberly Clark, HP, Cisco, among others as customers. It has offices across US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America. It has a facility in Hyderabad as well.