Mangaluru: V.G. Siddhartha, son-in-law of former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna and founder of India’s largest coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) is reportedly missing since last evening. 

According to sources, Siddhartha, who had left Bengaluru yesterday had told his driver Basavaraj Patil that they would be travelling towards Sakaleshpur, but in the midway Siddhartha decided to visit Mangaluru instead. Later, on the way, he is said to have asked Patil to stop the car at Nethravathi River Bridge near Ullal at about 7 pm. 

Soon after getting down from the car, Siddhartha, who was on call with someone, is said to have asked his driver to wait on the other side of the road but he never returned even after an hour. A panicked driver went down looking for him, but could not find Siddhartha anywhere. He then alerted the family members who in turn informed the Police.

On receiving the information, Dakshina Kannada Police rushed to the spot and launched a massive search for Siddhartha. According to sources, the Police have deployed 100 fire-fighters, 100 Policemen, 50 divers, 50 fishermen and 30 boats for the search operations. 

It is also said that Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has sought the Centre’s help to deploy navy divers for the search operations.

Udupi-Chikkamagalur MP Shobha Karandlaje too has  written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking his help and to deploy Indian Navy personnel to trace Siddhartha. 

Speaking to media persons, Mangaluru Police Commissioner Sandeep Patil said, “They (Siddhartha and driver Patil) were crossing National Highway 66 and the driver was asked to stop the car at the bridge over Nethravathi River near 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.”

MLA U.T. Khader, who rushed to the spot, is overseeing the search operations. The Police, who are questioning people whom Siddhartha spoke to on Monday, are also looking into call records of his driver Patil. Sources said that the Police were also seeking information from employees at Coffee Day Square in Bengaluru.

Driver’s Complaint 

In his complaint to the Mangaluru Police, Siddhartha’s driver Basavaraj Patil has said that V.G. Siddhartha left home for office at around 11 am yesterday and returned at 12.30 pm. He was then asked to pack his bags as Siddhartha was scheduled to go out of town. At 12.30 pm they left.

He (Patil) further said that Siddhartha had told him that they were travelling towards Sakleshpur, however, in the mid-way he (Siddhartha) decided to take a detour and go to Mangaluru. Following this, Patil was directed to take the road that led to Netravathi River Bridge. 

Letter to the Board of Directors

Meanwhile, V.G. Siddhartha, on July 27 (three days before he went missing) has also written a letter to the Board of Directors and Coffee Day family members stating that he had failed as an entrepreneur and he was sorry for letting down people who had put their trust on him. He has also accused former DG Income Tax for harassment. [see Page-8 for the letter]

The news about Siddhartha going missing spread like a wildfire across the State. Hundreds of his relatives, friends, politicians, employees of Coffee Day and Mindtree gathered at S.M. Krishna’s Sadashivanagar residence in Bengaluru. 

Former Prime Minister H.D. Devegowda, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, former Chief Ministers Veerappa Moily and H.D. Kumaraswamy, former MP Mallikarjuna Kharge, MLA Priyank Kharge, former Dy.CM R. Ashoka, former MLA Vatal Nagaraj, MLA H.K. Patil, former Minister Roshan Baig, actors Puneeth Rajkumar, Raghavendra Rajkumar were among those who visited S.M. Krishna’s residence this morning.

However, the search for Siddhartha was still on at the time we went to the Press.

S.M. Krishna-Siddhartha connection

Siddhartha is married to S.M. Krishna’s first daughter Malavika and have two sons — Ishan and Amartya. Apart from running Cafe Coffee Day, Siddhartha also owns hospitality chain that runs seven-star resorts The Serai (located in Bandipur, Chikkamagaluru and Kabini) and Cicada (located in Kabini and Bandipur).

Siddhartha, born to Gangaiah Hedge and Amrutha Hedge, is from a coffee growing family in Chikkamagaluru which has been in the business for more than 130 years.

Coffee Day shares plunge  

Meanwhile, shares of Coffee Day Enterprises plunged by 20 percent this morning following reports of Siddhartha’s disappearance last night. The company was scheduled to announce its June quarter results on Aug.8. 

Sources said that Siddhartha had recently been in talks with Coca Cola offering the multi-national giant a stake in the coffee retail business. His coffee retail business was expecting to close the year ending March 2020 with sales of about Rs.2,250 crore.

A post-graduate in Economics, Siddhartha’s family is the largest individual coffee planter, owning about 15,000 acres of coffee estates. He opened his first Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) outlet in August 1996 in Bengaluru’s, Brigade Road.

Currently, the chain has expanded with 1,550 stores with outlets in several international locations including Austria, Czech Republic and Malaysia. According to a Forbes report, Siddhartha is worth more than 1.15 billion dollars and had shares in tech company Mindtree until March 2019 when he sold them to L&T.

Coffee Day declares holiday

Meanwhile, the Coffee Day Global Limited, located on Belur Road in Hassan, declared holiday following the disappearance of its Founder Siddhartha.  There are about 30,000 employees working companies owned by Siddhartha’s family. 

Siddhartha’s father treated in Mysuru

Siddhartha’s father Gangaiah Hedge, aged about 90 years, was in Mysuru recently to get treated for a medical condition at the Gopal Gowda Hospital in Nazarbad. Hospital sources said that Gangaiah Hedge was treated at the hospital for 15 days before being discharged on July 28. 

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna and Prema Krishna, his wife, had visited the hospital on July 25 while returning from Srikanteshwara Temple in Nanjangud and Chamundeshwari Temple atop Chamundi Hill in city