Body of Café Coffee Day owner V.G. Siddhartha found

The entrepreneur and son-in-law of senior BJP politician and former Karnataka CM S.M. Krishna went missing in Mangaluru on Monday, July 29.

Rescuers bring the body of missing Café Coffee Day owner V.G. Siddhartha out of the Nethravati river on Wednesday, July 31, 2019.

The body of V. G. Siddhartha, founder of Café Coffee Day, who went missing near the Netravathi bridge in Mangaluru on July 29 was found on the banks of the river near Hoigebazar early on July 31, according to Sasikanth Senthil S., Deputy Commissioner, Dakshina Kannada.

The Deputy Commissioner told The Hindu that the search team had been keeping a watch near Hoigebazar since the night of July 30 based on the suggestions given by fishermen.

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“We are now completing the other formalities,” Mr. Senthil, also the District Magistrate, said.

Fishermen had guessed the location of the body based on the currents in the river and on the mouth (the place where river joins sea) of the river on July 30, said Yatish Baikampady, a fisherman leader and Chief Executive Officer of Panambur Beach Development Project. 

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The body was found near an ice plant in Hoigebazar, he told The Hindu .

Body to be taken to Moodigere

Mangalore Commissioner of Police Sandeep Patil said Mr. Siddhartha’s family had been informed and the body was kept at Wenlock Hospital for further formalities, including the post-mortem.

The body will be taken to Chethana Halli, near Moodigere in Chikkamagaluru district later in the day, according to his relatives and friends.

Member of Legislative Council Pranesh, who is a close relative of Mr. Siddhartha, said Chethana Halli was his native place and that the final rites will be performed there.

Raje Gowda, MLA, Sringeri; Ivan D’Souza, MLC; J.R. Lobo, former MLA and other relatives of Mr. Siddhartha were present at the mortuary.

Letter from Mr. Siddhartha

A letter purportedly written Mr. Siddhartha, which surfaced hours after he went missing, said financial troubles and harassment from Income Tax authorities had led him to “succumbing to the situation”.

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Saying that he created 30,000 jobs in his firms and 20,000 jobs in a technology firm in which he was an investor, in the last 37 years, Mr. Siddhartha in the letter said: “I have failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts.”

The Income Tax Department has raised doubts over his signature in the letter . However, police sources maintained that the letter was handed over to them by Mr. Siddhartha’s immediate family members and that they were, at the moment, not suspecting its veracity.

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