Founder-owner of Cafe Coffee Day V G Siddhartha.
Bangalore news July 30 highlights:Â Founder-owner of Cafe Coffee Day V G Siddhartha has gone missing in Mangalore since Monday night. He is also the son-in-law of former Union External Affairs Minister and former Karnataka CM SM Krishna.
According to his driver’s statement to Mangaluru police, Siddhartha got out of his car near a bridge across Nethravathi river in Mangaluru and never returned. The businessman and his driver were travelling from Bengaluru when the former asked the latter to stop the car near the bridge.
Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa and senior politicians including Congress MLA D K Shivakumar have rushed to S M Krishna’ residence in Bengaluru. An investigation by the Karnataka police department is underway. Coast guard has joined the ongoing search operations in Nethravathi river for the same.
IT department clarifies that the investigation on VG Siddhartha arose out of searches conducted on a prominent political figure in Karnataka. It is based on credible evidence on unearthing of financial transcations done by CCD, says the IT dept.
The Income Tax Department says the authenticity of the letter which is doing rounds on social media is not known and the signature in the letter doesn’t tally with Siddhartha’s as available in annual reports.
Press release from Cafe Coffee Day: The Board had an emergency meeting today. The Board is confident that the professional management of the Company and each of the entities in the Coffee Day Group and their respective leadership team, will ensure continuity of all business operations consistent with past behaviour. In the interim, the Board is evaluating and assessing the situation, formulating appropriate steps to ensure business operations are unaffected, and has resolved to co-operate with authorities.
The board also reviewed a copy of the letter purportedly signed by Mr. V. G. Siddhartha dated July 27, 2019 and has shared a copy of the letter with relevant authorities. The board has also sought the assistance of local and state authorities, who are doing their utmost, and relevant officers of the Company are cooperating with the authorities as requested.
In this hour of need we are counting on the support and strength of all our stakeholders including employees, customers, lenders, contractual counterparties, media, and well-wishers and request all to keep their morale high. We are requesting the media to honour the privacy of the family at this time and avoid any speculation.
A meeting of the Board of Directors of Café Coffee Day is being held at Bengaluru, even as search operations are underway to trace the company's founder VG Siddhartha.
VG Siddhartha's driver, who is in the custody of Mangaluru police since yesterday, is being grilled on various angles to find leads to the Cafe Coffee Day's founder being missing since Monday night. His driver, identified as Basavaraj Patil, is still under investigation at Kankanady Town police station, police officials confirm.
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, former Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy, former ministers G Parameshwara and Priyank Kharge have reached SM Krishna's residence in Sadashivanagar to offer moral support. Missing entrepreneur and owner of Cafe Coffee Day VG Siddhartha is Krishna's son-in-law.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw: He was a quiet n unassuming pioneer who started the coffee cafes business ahead of Starbucks in India. It seems to indicate that the Private Equity fund manager acted like a money lender n seems to have caused unbearable stress - needs to be investigated.
Hours after Mangaluru Police launched a search for missing Cafe Coffee Day owner VG Siddhartha, the son-in-law of former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna, the shares of the coffee chain plunged 20 per cent in early trading on Tuesday, Reuters reported. In a regulatory filing to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Coffee Day Enterprises said Siddhartha has not been reachable since last evening. “V G Siddhartha, Chairman and Managing Director of Coffee Day Enterprises Limited is not reachable since yesterday evening. We are taking the help of concerned authorities,” the filing stated. Read more
Politicians across parties have arrived at former Chief Minister SM Krishna's residence in Sadashivanagar following the news of his son-in-law and founder of Cafe Coffee Day VG Siddhartha missing since Monday night. While CM Yediyurappa, former PM and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda, and BJP MLA Sriramlulu are among key politicians who visited his residence this morning, Congress MLA DK Shivakumar and JD(S) MLA H D Revanna is still at Krishna's home.
Express Photo/Darshan Devaiah
VG Siddhartha is the founder and owner of popular chain Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) and son-in-law of former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna. He has gone missing from Mangaluru since Monday night. Siddhartha was on a business trip to Chickmagaluru and was last seen near Ullal bridge over the Netravati river on Monday evening.
Siddhartha became the first entrepreneur in Karnataka to set up a café in 1996 — CCD, which has now become India's largest and premier retail chain of cafes with 1,423 cafes in 209 cities/towns. Read more
Reacting to the news of CCD owner VG Siddhartha missing since Monday night, Congress leader D K Shivakumar said that he received a call from him on the 28th (July) asking if they could meet up. "It’s unbelievable that a courageous man like him would resort to this. However, I find this utterly fishy (the incident and the letter shared online) and urge that a thorough investigation be conducted into this matter. Shri Siddhartha and his family were closely known to me for decades now," Shivakumar said. DKS was one among the first politicians who rushed to former Chief Minister SM Krishna's residence in Bengaluru this morning soon after he got to know about the incident. Siddhartha is SM Krishna's son-in-law.
(File Photo)
Spokesperson from CCD head office: We are still in a shock and our employees are still hoping for the best. As of now, we are yet to confirm the genuineness of the letter that is being flashed on media. We are here to ensure that business will not be hit in any circumstances.
Coast Guard with two ships have joined the search operations near the Aliva Bagilu where the Nethravathi river merges with Arabian Sea. District officials also say that helicopters are joining the search operations following the improvement in the weather.
CCD management informs SEBI on VG Siddhartha: This is to inform you that, Mr. V G Siddhartha, Chairman and Managing Director of Coffee Day Enterprises Limited has not reachable since yesterday evening. We are taking the help of concerned authorities. Company is professionally managed and led by competent leadership team, which will ensure continuity of business.
We will keep you posted as and when we receive further updates.
The Mangalore bridge on the river Nethravathi where Siddhartha went missing is a busy place and at around 7 pm would be busy and it almost be a traffic jam in the normal course. Locals say that any untoward incident would be noticed immediatly by those travelling in cars on the bridge.
Rain at Mangalore and at Aliva Bagilu where the Nethravathi river merges with Arabian Sea, is hampering search operations for VG Siddhartha.
BJP MP Ms Shobha Karandlaje has met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and sought central intervention and assistance in the search for Cafe Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha.
Former Chief Minister is now at Former CM Krishna's residence. Other senior leaders like Kumar Bangarappa, people from the film fraternity like Puneet Rajkumar have all rushed to SM Krishna's residence.
Here is the gist of VG Siddhartha's letter making rounds on social media. Every financial transaction is my responsibility...the law should hold me and only me accountable,' reads VG Siddhartha's letter. "I am solely responsible for all mistakes. Every financial transaction is my responsibility. My team, auditors and senior management are totally unaware of all my transactions," he added. "My intention was never to cheat or mislead anybody, I have failed as an entrepreneur."
Dakshina Kannada police has launched a massive search operation for VG Siddhartha. They are searching near the Mangalore bridge over the Nethravathi river and the near Aliva Bagilu where the Nethravathi merges with the Arabian Sea. Chief Minister Yediyurappa has directed senior police officers to seek help and guidance from central agencies. CM has also requested help from navy divers in search operations.
Police officials say that Siddhartha got down near a bridge near Mangalore and asked the driver to go ahead and wait till his arrival. When he did not return even after two hours, the driver approached the police and lodged a missing complaint says deputy commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district Senthil Sasikant Senthil. The incident appears to have happened around 6.30 pm to 7 pm.
Police and other agencies have put more than 200 people to search for VG Siddhartha, founder of Cafe Coffee Day, who went missing near the bridge on Sunday night. Divers, fishermen from the neighbouring regions are also helping in the search operations.
Meanwhile, over 200 locations across Bengaluru city will soon get free high-speed Wi-Fi zones at select locations across the city. The project expected to be rolled out by September is supported by tech major Cisco. Free Wi-Fi will be made available in public locations such as busy traffic areas, bus stations, and hospitals.
Police officials say Siddhartha had left Bangalore saying he is going to Sakleshpur. But on way, he told the driver to go to Mangaluru. On reaching Netravati Bridge at around 6 pm, he got down from the car and told his driver to go ahead and stop. He was talking over the phone when he went missing.
Reacting to the missing incident of V G Siddhartha, former Karnataka deputy chief minister G Parameshwara said he was shocked to hear about the same.
Dakshina Kannada police in Karnataka have intensified their search for missing Cafe Coffee Day Owner Siddartha. They are searching for Siddartha in and around Nethravathi Bridge. CCTVs are also being inspected.
Chief Minister Yediyurappa paid a visit to former CM Krishna's residence to assuage the feelings of the senior leader. Krishna's son-in-law and founder of cafe coffee day VG Siddhartha was missing in Mangalore since yesterday evening. Congress MLA D K Shivakumar was also among other senior politicians who rushed to Krishna's residence in Bengaluru.
Founder-owner of Cafe Coffee Day V G Siddhartha goes missing in Mangalore since Monday night. He is also the son-in-law of former Union External Affairs Minister and former Karnataka CM SM Krishna.
According to his driver's statement to Mangaluru police, Siddhartha got out of his car near a bridge across Nethravathi river in Mangaluru and never returned. The businessman and his driver were travelling from Bengaluru when the former asked the latter to stop the car near the bridge.
An investigation by the Karnataka police department is underway. Boats have been deployed at the river to help the search. Read more
The Special Investigation Team probing the multi-crore I Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam has issued fresh summons notices to Congress MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan and disqualified legislator R Roshan Baig. The politicians have been asked to appear before the SIT on Wednesday for further questioning over the case after they cited the ongoing political developments to not appear before the same on Monday. multi-crore IMA scam on Wednesday.
