Cafe Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha’s body found in river

TIL Desk/National/Bengaluru/ The body of VG Siddhartha, the founder of the popular chain Cafe Coffee Day and son-in-law of former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna, has been found, two days after he went missing from a bridge near Mangaluru in Karnataka.  A massive search operation was on since Monday evening after Siddhartha went missing.

“A body has been found which appears to be of Cafe Coffee Day owner VG Siddhartha,” Sasikanth Senthil, Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada was quoted as saying. He was last seen on the bridge over the Netravati river in the coastal town on Monday evening, according to the police. In his statement to the police, Siddhartha’s driver Basavaraj Patil said they were going to Sakleshpur from Bengaluru in a Toyota Innova – a 220-km drive – when the businessman asked him to turn towards Mangaluru.

As they approached a bridge near Mangaluru, the businessman asked the driver to stop the car and got down from the vehicle. Patil, in the statement, said Siddhartha asked him to drive towards the other end of the bridge and wait there. Days before he went missing, Siddhartha, 60, had reportedly written a letter to board members and employees of Cafe Coffee Day. The letter alleges harassment by an income tax officer and expresses regret for not being able to create “the right profitable business”.