VG Siddhartha, the business baron who founded the Cafe Coffee Day chain, has gone missing from Mangaluru where he had gone on business, a senior Karnataka police officer said on Tuesday.
According to police, Siddhartha asked his driver to drop him off at the Netravathi bridge in Mangaluru as he wanted to take a walk. However, when there was no sight of him ever after an hour, the driver alerted the family, and they in turn informed the authorities, said Mangaluru police commissioner Sandeep Patil.
Driver Basavaraj Patil in his statement to police said, “On Monday I went to his residence in Bengaluru at 8 am. At 12.30 pm he asked me to drive towards Sakleshpur. As we neared it, he asked me to drive towards Mangalore. When I was entering Mangalore he said ‘take the car to the bridge’.
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He asked me to be at the end of the bridge and said he’d walk. At 8 pm, I called him but his phone was switched off. Then I called his son and he said he’d also try calling him. As there was no response, I’m filing this complaint.”
{{/usCountry}}He asked me to be at the end of the bridge and said he’d walk. At 8 pm, I called him but his phone was switched off. Then I called his son and he said he’d also try calling him. As there was no response, I’m filing this complaint.”
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Siddhartha is also the son-in-law of former foreign minister SM Krishna who joined the BJP after spending decades in the Congress.
The police officer said an intensive search had been launched for the businessman at the family’s request. Dog squads and boats have been deployed to help with the search.
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyuarppa rushed to residence of SM Krishna and is personally coordinating the search operations.
Also read | Café Coffee Day founder goes missing: Here’s his full letter