It was a black Saturday for IT dealers in Coimbatore this August 23. Around 40 members of Coimbatore association has set out to Ooty for a picnic over the weekend. The journey back turned out to be a disaster for a couple of traders. The car in which SG Ponnaresu, CEO, ADD-ONS Computers, Senthil, CEO, Computer Solutions and R Mahesh, CEO, Ozone Computer Service were traveling in met with a horrific accident. Ponnaresu and Senthil died on the spot while Mahesh was badly injured. He was brought back to Coimbatore and hospitalized immediately.
“Mahesh was driving the car and they were returning from Ooty to Masanakkudi and the car lost its balance on the 23rd hairpin bend and toppled over to the next bend. We lost Ponnaresu and Senthil on the spot, and Mahesh is now out of danger,” informed Karthikeyan, President, Confed-ITA. Ponnaresu, 42, was an industry veteran with 18 years of trading experience. He is survived by his wife and two daughters. Senthil was in the IT industry for almost 12 years and was married for one and half years. His wife is expecting a baby shortly.
Remembering Ponnaresu, Karthikeyan said that he was instrumental in coordination of Tamil Nadu Information Technology Association (TANITA) the association formed prior to Confed-ITA, along with the Madurai association. “He played a vital role in the formation of Confed-ITA and was instrumental in conducting the first meeting of TANITA along with the Madurai association. The death of both the dealers is a great loss for our association,” Karthikeyan informed.
Ponnaresu had played a vital role in the development of Coimbatore association and was the Secretary for the association during 2007-08. “He was the one who renamed our association from Coimbatore Computer Dealers Association (CCDA), and he took a lot of efforts to make our association an active one,” informed K Thangaraj, Secretary, CITA.
Dealers in Coimbatore association are mourning the death of their beloved channel partners by downing their shutters for the whole day today. This is the second time in a year that Coimbatore has lost its partner during a picnic. Earlier in February, AH Saleem, CEO, Compu Soft, Coimbatore lost his life while trying to save his drowning nephew during a family picnic.