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Mangaluru: Coffee tycoon Siddhartha goes missing from Netravati Bridge; massive search underway

coastaldigest.com web desk
July 30, 2019

Mangaluru, Jul 30: VG Siddhartha, the son-in-law of former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna and founder of country's largest coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day, is reportedly missing since Monday night. 

There are reports doing the rounds that the billionaire who faced series of I-T raids last year jumped off the bridge into Netravati River near Tokkottu. Though a search operation is on, the police are not in a position to confirm if he jumped into the river. 

Sources said Siddhartha had arrived at 8pm from Bengaluru in his SUV and had asked the driver to go to the Netravati bridge near Tokkottu.

"Yesterday, he had left Bengaluru saying he was going to Sakleshpur. But on the way, he told the driver to go to Mangaluru. After reaching the Netravati bridge, he got down from the car. Siddhartha asked his driver to drive a little further and stop. He will come walking. However, he didn't return. The dog squad used to locate him too stopped at the middle of the bridge," Mangaluru city police commissioner Sandeep Patil said.

The police have summoned helicopters and coast guards to facilitate the search operations. Over 200 personnel, including 25 swimmers, have been pressed into service to locate him, the officer added. 

Siddhartha's companies employ around 30,000 people across India. Siddhartha, son of a coffee plantation owner, dabbled in stock trading before starting Café Coffee Day with one outlet in Bengaluru in 1996, which has now emerged as the largest chain of coffee shops in India. He recently sold his stakes in a software company Mindtree for about Rs 3,000 crore. He was recently in the news for being in talks with Coca-Cola to sell CCD.

Cafe Coffe Day clocked a revenue of Rs 1,777 crore and Rs 1,814 crore in financial years 2018 and 2019, respectively, and eyeing Rs 2,250 crore by March 2020. As of March 2019, CCD runs 1,752 cafes across India.

Shares of Coffee Day Enterprises shed 19.99% in the early trade on July 30 after Cafe Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha was reported missing since the night of July 29. CCD stock opened at a loss of 19.99% or 38.50 points to Rs 154.05 on BSE, also the stock's all time and new 52 week low. There are only sellers in the stock and no buyers standing.

Also Read:

Siddhartha was eager to sell his Cafe Coffee Day stake to Coca-Cola?

Cops grill Siddhartha’s car driver at undisclosed location

Karnataka BJP MPs meet Amit Shah; seek help to trace ‘missing’ Siddhartha

‘Utterly fishy. Unbelievable. Siddhartha called me on July 28. He wanted to meet me’: D K Shivakmuar

'I have failed as an entrepreneur… I gave up': V G Siddhartha’s alleged letter goes viral

Comments

Mahesh Bhandary
 - 
Tuesday, 30 Jul 2019

He was a inspiration to many, but given a wrong message behind his suicide.

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News Network
April 7,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 7: Former Minister and Leader of the Opposition Siddaramiah on Tuesday termed the shutting by private clinics in the state by doctors as an 'inhuman act'.

Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, the Congress leader said due to the fear of Novel Coronavirus, the doctors have closed their private clinics, which was against their profession.

This has affected the people, especially those, who are suffering from other deceases. He urged Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to intervene and resolve the issue immediately.

Despite the government instructions not to close down their clinics, the doctors have not been responding positively, Mr Siddaramaiah noted.

In this connection, the government should act seriously and give necessary warning to the doctors, to either open their clinics to serve the people, or face action, he added.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 21,2020

Udupi, May 21: In a shocking development, as many as 27 fresh coronavirus positive cases were reported in the coastal district of Udupi today. 

Another shocker is, 16 among 27 covid-19 patients are children. The rest are six men and five women. 

Interestingly, all of them have inter-state travel history. 23 had come from Maharashtra and 3 from Telangana. Another one had come from Kerala to Manipal. More details are awaited.

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News Network
May 29,2020

New Delhi, May 29: Opining that there is no harm in importing ideas from abroad Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an affiliate of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has suggested that India should take a cue from Pakistan and turn the “locust threat” into “chicken feed.

In an interview, Ashwani Mahajan, national co-convener of Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) said: “I saw an article which shows that Pakistan has turned the locust threat into an opportunity by converting it into chicken feed”

“If there is a good idea originating from anywhere, we should be open to exploring such ideas. We should adopt good ideas. There is no harm in that,” he added.

He also shared the article on Twitter and wrote: “Pakistan turns locust threat into chicken feed. Need to understand the idea and replicate it in India.”

The article stated “an innovative pilot project in Pakistan’s Okara district offers a sustainable solution in which farmers earn money by trapping locusts that are turned into high-protein chicken feed by animal feed mills”.

“It was the brainchild of Muhammad Khurshid, a civil servant in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, and Johar Ali, a bio-technologist from the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council,” according to the article.

Both Pakistan and India have been hit by locust attacks. These are desert locusts, which is one of the 12 species of short-horned grasshoppers. Swarms can comprise billions and travel up to 130 km in a day.

India has been battling the locust attacks with moderate success since December. However, the onset of monsoon could bring more trouble.

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