CCD Founder And SM Krishna’s Son-in-Law Missing, Last Seen At Bridge

VG Siddhartha, the founder of the popular chain Cafe Coffee Day has apparently committed suicide. The son-in-law of former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna has gone missing from near a river in Mangaluru since Monday. He was last seen on a bridge over the Netravati river in the coastal town. A massive search operation has been launched by the police near the 1-km-long bridge. The divers are scanning the muddy river.

As reported by News18, In a letter reportedly written by Siddhartha to his family before he went missing, he said he had “failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts”. He added, “I would like to say I gave 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 gave up as I could not take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buy back shares….”

In his statement to the police, the businessman’s driver Basvraj said they were going to Sakleshpur from Bengaluru in a Toyota Innova, a 220-km drive when in the middle of the journey Mr Siddhartha asked him to go to Mangaluru.

Mangaluru Commissioner Sandeep Patil, “They were crossing National Highway 66 and the driver was asked to stop the car at the bridge over Netravati River in Ullal. He was talking on his mobile phone when he asked his driver to stop the car and is said to have walked away from the car. He told his driver he would be back soon and that was the last time his driver saw him.”

Mangaluru Police Commissioner Sandeep Patil said they are checking who all Mr Siddhartha spoke to last. “A dog squad was used (on the bridge). It stopped at a point in the middle of the bridge. Local fishermen are helping in the search.”

Karnataka BJP leader Jnanendra told reporters Mr Siddhartha’s father is unwell and is in a hospital in Mysuru. Top leaders DK Shivakumar and BL Shankar from Mr Krishna’s former party, the Congress, also visited him. A large number of leaders and well-wishers have also gathered at his home.

Mr Siddhartha’s offices were raided by income tax officers in September 2017. He is among the country’s largest exporters of coffee bean. The coffee entrepreneur had recently been in talks with Coca Cola offering the multinational giant a stake in the coffee retail business.

Siddhartha, who is the son of a coffee estate owner, is the proprietor of CCD, which was launched more than two decades ago. According to an Economic Times story in 2015, CCD has 1,550 stores, around 31,000 vending machines and 12,000 corporate accounts. It has outlets in many international locations including outlets in Prague, Vienna and Kuala Lumpur.

Also Read: Early Morning Military Plane Crash In Pakistan Kills 17