MILAN – The body of Cafe Coffee Day founder V G Siddhartha has been found nearly two days after he went missing, according to TV reports on Wednesday. Siddhartha’s body was found on the banks of the river Nethravathi near the Hoige Bazaar in Mangalore, according to news agency ANI.
Siddhartha ‘s body, which had washed ashore near Ullal this morning, was discovered by fishermen, following which police reached the spot, news agency PTI reported.
The police had launched a massive search operation Tuesday involving teams of the National Disaster Response Force, Coast Guard, Home Guard, fire services and coastal police that had continued throughout Tuesday.
Siddhartha, the son-in-law of former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna, was first reported missing on Monday evening by his driver, who was the last to see him. He had instructed his driver to drop him off at a bridge over the river en route Sakleshpur near Hassan.
Two days prior to his disappearance, the 60-year-old had left behind a note to his employees that revealed he was was under “tremendous pressure” from lenders and one of the private equity partners (PEs). The letter also alleged “a lot of harassment” from tax authorities.
Coming from a family that has a 140-year history of growing coffee, he initially dabbled in stock trading, before setting his foot in the coffee business.
After being inspired by a chat with the owners of German coffee chain Tchibo, Siddhartha decided to open his own chain of cafes in India. With the tag line ‘A lot can happen over a cup of coffee’, he opened Cafe Coffee Day’s first outlet on Bangalore’s upscale Brigade Road in 1994.
The company has since grown into India’s biggest coffee chain, with over 1,700 outlets across 245 Indian cities as of last year.
