The death of Cafe Coffee Day founder V.G. Siddhartha in Mangaluru triggered attacks by several political personalities in the Opposition who questioned the role of investigating agencies.
“A letter, supposedly written by Siddhartha a few days before his death, discusses tax terrorism, which is an ugly face of politically-motivated institutions. What signals are we sending to budding entrepreneurs? Our party and I shall always stand with Shri. S.M. Krishna in his fight for justice,” former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Twitter. In another tweet, he said the criticism was favouring “a few crony capitalists”.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted: “From what he has expressed, it appears that he was greatly depressed due to harassment and pressure from agencies, for which he could not run his business in a peaceful manner. This he could not resist.”
Karti Chidambaram, the son of former Union Minister P. Chidambaram and who is facing charges from the Enforcement Directorate, tweeted on Wednesday: “Forget about dealing with markets/suppliers/customers/investors/employees/stakeholders. Managing the systematic harassment by the State n it’s pliant agencies is the biggest challenge. IT, ED, CBI, ROC etc. are the biggest impediments for ease of business.”
Meanwhile, fugitive business tycoon Vijay Mallya, who is the United Kingdom, also took to Twitter against government agencies. “I am indirectly related to Siddhartha. Excellent human and brilliant entrepreneur. I am devastated with the contents of his letter. The Govt Agencies and Banks can drive anyone to despair. See what they are doing to me despite offer of full repayment. Vicious and unrelenting.”
Demand for impartial probe
Congress leader Siddaramaiah has sought an impartial investigation into the death of CCD founder V.G. Siddhartha. He tweeted: “The death of V.G. Siddhartha is both disturbing and mysterious. The reasons and the invisible hands that ended his life in this tragic way should be unearthed through impartial and fair investigation.”
“The contents of the letter written by Siddhartha raises suspicion about the possibility of harassment by the I-T department. The functioning of I-T department in the last five years justifies the suspicion. An impartial enquiry has to happen,” he said in another tweet.
JD(S) national president H.D. Deve Gowda also demanded an independent and impartial enquiry.
