CCD founder and SM Krishna's son-in-law VG Siddhartha found dead
The cremation of Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) founder VG Siddhartha took place in his ancestral home in Chethanahalli at Mudigere taluk, Chikkamagaluru, on Wednesday.
VG Siddhartha, the son-in-law of Karnataka's former chief minister S M Krishna, committed suicide by jumping into Netravathi river on July 29 and his body was recovered on Wednesday.
He purportedly wrote a farewell letter to the Board of Directors and employees of his company Coffee Day Enterprises where he alleged harassment by lenders and tax authorities.
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08:44 pm: VG Siddhartha is cremated in his ancestral home in Chethanahalli at Mudigere taluk, Chikkamagaluru
05:30 pm: Yediyurappa arrives for Siddhartha's last rites. Apart from him, BJP leader CT Ravi, former chief minister Kumaraswamy, Congress leaders DK Shivakumar, and KJ George also paid homage to Siddhartha.
04:45 pm: Industry captains under pressure, says Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Siddhartha was depressed due to harassment by "different agencies", and claimed captains of industry were under "pressure" and contemplating shifting abroad.
She also alleged an atmosphere prevailed where opposition parties were also afraid of "horsetrading, harassment and political vendetta".
"I am deeply shocked by the incident relating to V G Siddhartha, Coffee Cafe Day founder. It is indeed very sad and very unfortunate.
"From what he has expressed (in his letter), it appears that he was greatly depressed due to harassment and pressure from different agencies because of which he could not run his business in a peaceful manner," Banerjee wrote on her Facebook wall.
04:00 pm: Siddhartha to be cremated at his coffee estate in Karnataka
The last rites of Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) founder VG Siddhartha will be performed at one of his coffee estates in Karnataka by Wednesday evening.
"The flower-decked cortege with his body in a glass-cased coffin was brought to the estate from Mangaluru after the autopsy at a state-run hospital," the source told IANS over telephone.
The coffee estate is 150 km from Mangaluru and 250 km northwest of Bengaluru in the biodiverse Western Ghats of the state. The body was taken to the Coffee Day Global Enterprises office in Chikkamgaluru town on way to the village.
1:40 pm: SV Ranganath made interim chairman of Coffee Day Enterprises
12:00 pm: Shares of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd further plummeted 20 per cent to hit its lowest trading permissible limit for the day. The scrip tumbled 20 per cent to Rs 123.25 -- its 52-week low level as well as its lowest trading permissible limit for the day -- on the BSE. At the NSE, it dropped 20 per cent to hit its one year low as also its lower limit of Rs 122.75. In two days, the company's market valuation has tanked by Rs 1,463.32 crore to Rs 2,603.68 crore on the BSE.
10:40 am: Vijay Mallya jumped into VG Siddhartha's death mystery to defend himself. Here's what he tweeted:
10:26 am: Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) has decided to shut all its outlets today across the country in memory of its founder-chairman VG Siddhartha.
"All our 1,750 retail outlets in about 240 cities will remain shut for the day as a mark of respect to our founder-chairman Siddhartha who is no more," the source told IANS here.
9:52 am: Sringeri MLA T D Rajegowda on VG Siddhartha: The family members have all decided that cremation will take place at his father's estate in Belur Taluk.
9:45 am: Congress leader Manish Tewari says VG Siddhartha was allegedly harassed and hounded to commit suicide by a DG of the Income Tax department.
9:35 am: Huge growd gathers outside Wenlock hospital to pay last respects to CCD founder VG Siddhartha
9:21 am: Sringeri MLA T D Rajegowda, who also happens to be friend of VG Siddhartha, says: He was a little upset regarding the Income Tax torture, wanted to sell 2-3 properties to settle all the debts because he was having more assets than liabilities.
8:56 am: VG Siddhartha's postmortem completed at Wenlock hospital. He will be laid to rest at his Coffee estate in Chikamangaluru.
8:37 am: Visuals of Chetanhalli coffee Estate of VG Siddhartha, where his body will be laid to rest.
7:51 am: VG Siddhartha's body moved to Wenlock hospital for postmortem
7:32 am: Cop says VG Siddhartha's body was found at 6 am today.
7:00 am: VG Siddhartha's body has been recovered from Netravati River after 35-hour long search operation.
Who is VG Siddhartha:
VG Siddhartha, from Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district, is best known as the founder-owner of the chain of Cafe Coffee Day outlets. He comes from a family that has been in the business of coffee plantation for around 140 years. He is credited with creating India's largest coffee empire. VG Siddhartha was married to the daughter of former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna.
VG Siddhartha opened his first CCD store in Bengaluru's Brigade Road. He was the first entrepreneur in Karnataka to set up a café in 1996 (Café Coffee Day, a chain of "youth hangout" coffee parlors). Now, he has 1,740 CCD stores in around 250 cities. All the coffee served at Coffee Day outlets comes from the 10,000 acres of plantations that Siddhartha owns in Chikamagalur, Karnataka. Besides Cafe Coffee Day, Siddhartha has founded a hospitality chain which runs a seven-star resort Serai and Cicada.
VG Siddhartha was accused of tax evasion in 2017. The Income Tax department had conducted raid across 20 locations in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Chikmagalur connected to Siddhartha.
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