S M Krishna's son-in-law, Cafe Coffee Day founder V G Siddhartha missing
The Cafe Coffee Day owner was last seen near Netravati river in the coastal town of Mangaluru.
(Photo: Twitter/ ANI)
Bengaluru: V G Siddhartha, the founder of popular beverage chain Café Coffee Day and former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna’s son in law, has gone missing since Monday evening.
He was last seen on the bridge over the Netravati river in Mangaluru, where he had instructed his driver Basavaraj Patil to drop him.
Commissioner of Police, Mangaluru, Sandeep Patil said Siddhartha left Bengaluru yesterday and was travelling to Sakleshpur.
"On reaching Netravati Bridge, he got down from the car and asked his driver to move ahead and wait as he wanted to take a stroll," Patil said, adding that he went missing soon after.
"We used the dog squad and they stopped at the middle of the bridge. We are taking help of local fisherman to search the river. Everyone he had last spoken to are being contacted for relevant information," the police commissioner said.
According to the driver, Siddhartha left Bangalore at 11 am on Monday and kept changing his destination from Chikkamangaluru to Hassan to Sakleshpur and finally Mangaluru.
Driver Basavaraj said, "I have been working for him for the last three years. On Monday I reported for duty at his residence at 8 am and drove him to his Vittal Mallya office and returned home at 11 am. At 12:30 pm he asked me to drive towards Sakleshpur (222 kilometres away). He soon changed his mind and asked me to drive towards Mangaluru instead. Just before we were about to enter the city, he asked me to take a left as he wanted to visit some site."
"When we reached the Kerala highway, he asked me to stop at the bridge and drop him there. I was told to wait on the other end. After an hour, around 8 pm, I called him but his phone was switched off. Then I called his son, who also tried calling him. I later filed a complaint after we couldn't trace him," the driver added.
News agency ANI has reported that Siddhartha allegedly penned a letter to his employees before he went missing.
In the letter, Siddhartha wrote he was under pressure from a private equity partner and other lenders.
Siddhartha also alleged that he was "harassed" by the previous Directorate General, Income Tax which left him facing a "liquidity crunch".
"I am sorry to let down all the people that put their trust in me, I fought for a long time but today I gave up," he added.
"Every financial transaction is my responsibility... the law should hold me and only me accountable," he further added.
This is the letter that Siddhartha wrote:
BJP lawmaker from Karnataka Shobha Karandlaje met Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday and requested him for central assistance in tracing the missing V G Siddhartha, a resident of her constituency. The BJP MP has also written to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh seeking help to trace V G Siddhartha.
Meanwhile, Congress leader U T Khadar who was at the site of the search operation said, "I was shocked when I got the news. The police commissioner has ordered a search operation. It is being carried out with support from locals."
In visuals, a group of policemen are seen on a bridge scanning the river below. Another group of policemen are on inflatable boats scouring the waters.
"We are very concerned that our friend, a very good person and someone who has given jobs to thousands of people is missing since Monday night," Khader told news agency ANI.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Congress leader D K Shivakumar and B L Shankar visited former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna at his residence in Bengaluru early Tuesday morning.
The Income Tax had raided Siddhartha’s offices in September 2017.
Siddhartha had sold his 20 per cent stake in consultancy firm Mindtree to Larsen and Toubro for Rs 3,300 crore in March this year.
News agency Reuters said he was reportedly in talks with Coca-Cola to sell his flagship chain. He founded Café Coffee Day in 1993 and it has over 1,500 outlets countrywide.