Published 07:07 IST, July 31st 2019
Cafe Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha's body found on the banks of Netravati River in Mangaluru
The CCD founder - VGÂ Siddhartha's body has been found this morning from the backwaters of Netravati river
A day after intense search operation, CCD founder VG Siddhartha's body was found from the backwaters of Netravati River in Mangaluru, informed the sources at the location. Although the Police will confirm the body in a while. Sources also added that the body is being sent for post mortem to Wenlock Hospital.
As per sources, 2-3 kilometre away from where Siddhartha was last seen a body was found even before the rescue operation resumed on July 31. The body was found in the backwaters of the Netravati river. In a while, the Police will confirm the identity of the body, however there is striking resemblance with the CCD founder. Family members has been informed and will join the Police in identification of the body. Probe in the matter continues.
Informing about the body that was found, Sandeep Patil, the Police Commissioner said, "A body was washed ashore this morning at around 6 am near Hoige bazaar. We are trying to confirm if it is Siddhartha's. The family will have to confirm to us. We have informed them of the same. The body has been shifted to Wenlock hospital for further formalities. We will continue investigation."
How VG Siddhartha went missing
Son-in-law of former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna and the founder of Cafe Coffee Day, VG Siddhartha, was last seen near the Netravati river in Mangalore on Monday evening. As per details received from his driver's statement to police, Siddhartha left his Bengaluru residence at 11 am on Monday and enroute to his estate in Sakaleshpur, changed course to Mangalore. At 6:30 pm, near Mangalore, just 2 kms from where the Netravati river joins the sea, Siddhartha had the car stopped on a bridge, walked for a short while, asked his driver to park the car ahead and said he will join him after a short walk. The driver parked the car almost a kilometer away, and waited for Siddhartha for an hour. When he didn't return, he tried calling his mobile which was turned off. Panicking, the driver informed the family.
LETTER OF VG SIDDHARTHA TO CCD BOARD
Meanwhile, in a letter addressed to the company's board days before he went missing, VG Siddhartha had emotionally wrote about having failed as an entrepreneur,and alleged harassment by I-T authorities. "I hope someday you will understand, forgive and pardon me," he stated in the letter.
"I would like to say I have given it my all. I am very sorry to let down all the people that put their trust in me. I fought for a long time but today I have given up as I could not take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buy back shares. A transaction I had partially completed six months ago by borrowing a large sum of money from a friend. Tremendous pressure from other lenders lead to me succumbing to the situation. There was a lot of harassment from the previous DG income tax in the form of attaching our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then taken possession of our Coffee Day shares, although the revised returns have been filed by us. This was very unfair and has led to a serious liquidity crunch," the letter stated.
Updated 07:41 IST, July 31st 2019