India News

Café Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha goes missing; talks of letting down people, IT harassment in his last letter

Published

7 years ago

July 30, 2019

Café Coffee Day Group founder and former Karnataka Chief Minister, SM Krishna’s son-in-law, VG Siddhartha, has been missing since Monday night and a massive search operation has not been successful in finding him so far, said reports quoting police today (Tuesday, July 30).

Siddhartha, 55, reportedly left in his Innova car towards Mangaluru last night. He stopped midway at Ullal bridge across the Nethravati river near Mangaluru where he reportedly got off from his car. When he did not return even after two hours, his driver went looking for him. When he could not find Siddhartha anywhere, the driver alerted the family members who then informed the police.

“Yesterday, he had left Bengaluru saying he is going to Sakleshpur. But on the way, he told the driver to go to Mangaluru. After reaching the Ullal 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.

A letter dated July 27 purportedly written by Siddhartha to the board of directors and his CCD family has emerged in which he said he had “failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts”. He added, “I would like to say I gave it my all. I am very sorry to let down all the people that put their trust in me. I fought for a long time but today I gave up as I could not take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buy back shares, a transaction I had partially completed six months ago by borrowing a large sum of money from a friend. Tremendous pressure from other lenders lead me to succumbing to the situation.”

Siddhartha also mentions the “harassment” he allegedly faced at the hands of Income Tax officials. “There was a lot of harassment from the previous DG income Tax in the form of attaching our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then asking position of our Coffee Day shares, although the revised returns have been filed by us. This was very unfair and has led to a serious liquidity crunch,” he said.

Claiming complete responsibility of all the transactions done, in his letter, he left an earnest request to his team urging them to continue running the business with a ‘new management’.

In the letter, Siddhartha has also taken responsibility for all financial transactions, which, he said, nobody was aware of. “I sincerely request each of you to be strong and to continue running these businesses with a new management. 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. The law should hold me, and only me accountable, as I have withheld this information from everybody, including my family.”

He further wrote: “My intention was never to cheat or mislead anybody. I have failed as an entreprenuer. This is my sincere submission, I hope some day you will understand, forgive and pardon me.”

Also Read: Unnao rape: Murder case against BJP MLA Sengar and others after rape victim’s car crash

Born in to a family of coffee planters in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru, VG Siddhartha founded India’s first popular café chain Café Coffee Day with its first outlet opening in Bangalore’s famous Brigade Road in 1996.

VG Siddhartha was recently in the news for selling his entire stake in midsize IT firm Mindtree to L&T. He was the largest shareholder in Mindtree and exited the company after remaining invested for close to two decades.

In this regard, the report stated that a complaint against Siddhartha alleging insider trading during his stint at Mindtree was also filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) by an anonymous person.

The report added that the complaint filed against Siddhartha had alleged that he and his firm Coffee Day group had sold shares that were pledged before various financial institutions.

The police, revenue authorities and expert swimmers are conducting search operations in the river on the assumption that he may have jumped into the river.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from CCD head office in Bengaluru said the company is yet to confirm the genuineness of the letter. “We are still in 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 in media. We are here to ensure that business will not be hit in any circumstances,” the spokesperson said.

An intensive search operation has been mounted with over 200 policemen, divers on about 25 boats and local fishermen searching for Siddhartha at the bridge. Sniffer dogs have also been deployed at the site. The Indian Coast Guard also joined the search operation and has deployed a ship off the old Mangalore port. Three diving teams have been pressed by the Coast Guard, PTI reported.

However, due to the rain in coastal Karnataka, the water level in the river has gone up to a serious level and is causing a problem for a speedy search operation, BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje informed Union Home Minister Amit Shah. A group of Karnataka BJP MPs led by Karandlaje met Shah today and sought help from the Centre in tracing the missing CCD founder.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Congress leader D K Shivakumar visited Krishna at his residence in Bengaluru this morning. Krishna had served as the external affairs minister from 2009 to October 2012 in the UPA-II government and as the 16th chief minister of Karnataka.

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India News

Delhi-NCR sees second spell of rain and thunderstorms in four days

Delhi-NCR experienced another spell of rain and thunderstorms on March 18, with IMD forecasting more showers over the next few days.

Published

8 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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Delhi and parts of the National Capital Region witnessed another spell of rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds on Wednesday evening, marking the second such weather event in the past four days.

The sudden change brought relief from unusually high temperatures recorded earlier this month. According to officials, the temperature at Safdarjung — the city’s base weather station — was recorded at 24 degrees Celsius at 7 pm.

The India Meteorological Department had earlier issued an alert predicting light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning on March 18. Several areas across the capital experienced gusty winds along with brief but intense showers.

More rain likely over next two days

The weather department has forecast partly cloudy skies for March 19 and 20, with chances of light rain or thundershowers occurring once or twice during the day. On March 21, skies are expected to remain cloudy with the possibility of light showers continuing.

Conditions are likely to stabilise from March 23 onwards, with forecasts indicating a return to partly cloudy to clear skies across the region.

Weather activity across India to intensify

The IMD has also indicated widespread weather activity across multiple regions of the country in the coming days. Rainfall is expected to intensify in several states, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds.

In the northeastern region, heavy rainfall is likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Meghalaya during the early part of the week.

Meanwhile, the western Himalayan region is also set to witness a shift in weather patterns. Himachal Pradesh is likely to receive heavy rainfall on March 19 and 20, while Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir may experience heavy showers around March 20.

India News

Centre pushes states to cut levies to boost PNG adoption

The Centre has asked states to reduce local levies and streamline approvals to accelerate PNG adoption and city gas infrastructure growth.

Published

11 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has urged states and Union Territories to ease local levies and procedural barriers affecting City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects, in a bid to accelerate the adoption of piped natural gas (PNG) as a cleaner fuel alternative.

In a communication sent to Chief Secretaries, Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Neeraj Mittal highlighted that high right-of-way charges, road cutting fees, lease rentals and other local levies imposed by urban bodies are discouraging investments in CGD infrastructure.

High costs slowing expansion

The ministry pointed out that the CGD sector, particularly PNG supply to households and commercial establishments, does not receive direct subsidies. As a result, it depends heavily on viable returns, which are being impacted by excessive and inconsistent local charges across states.

It noted that these financial and procedural hurdles are slowing down infrastructure expansion and affecting the broader adoption of natural gas.

Gap between connections and usage

According to the government, while around 12.63 crore PNG connections have been recorded, only about 1.6 crore are currently active. The ministry stressed that improving ease of doing business at state and local levels could help bridge this gap and expand the consumer base.

Officials believe that rationalising levies may initially reduce local revenues but could lead to higher long-term gains through increased gas consumption and economic activity.

LPG shortage adds urgency

The push for PNG adoption comes amid supply constraints in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), linked to ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Oil marketing companies are currently supplying only 20 per cent of normal commercial LPG demand to states.

To address this, the ministry has proposed increasing LPG allocation to 30 per cent for states that implement reforms supporting PNG and CGD expansion.

Reform-linked incentives for states

The Centre has suggested a set of measures that states can adopt to qualify for higher LPG allocations. These include:

Setting up empowered state and district-level committees for faster approvals
Introducing single-window clearance with deemed approvals within 24 hours
Implementing a dig-and-restore model using bank guarantees instead of restoration charges
Eliminating annual rental or lease charges for CGD infrastructure

The ministry said compliance with these reforms would be verified before granting additional LPG allocations.

Industry support measures

The communication also noted that GAIL and its subsidiaries have already allocated full gas supply to the commercial PNG segment to support businesses affected by reduced LPG availability.

The government reiterated that expanding natural gas usage aligns with its broader push for cleaner and domestically sourced energy.

India News

BJP seals Assam seat-sharing pact, Modi to hold 3 rallies in April

BJP has finalised its Assam seat-sharing plan with allies and is gearing up for an intense campaign led by PM Modi and Amit Shah.

Published

11 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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The Bharatiya Janata Party has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections, firming up its strategy alongside National Democratic Alliance partners as campaigning gathers pace in the state.

Under the agreement, the BJP will contest 89 seats, while its allies — Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front — will field candidates in 26 and 11 constituencies respectively. The distribution has been decided after internal deliberations, with the focus now shifting to candidate announcements and campaign execution.

Campaign push led by top leadership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address three rallies in Assam during the final leg of the campaign. Tentative dates for the rallies are April 1, April 3 and April 6, with events likely to be held in key constituencies.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also set to spearhead an extensive campaign across the state through March, aiming to energise party workers and strengthen voter outreach.

Candidate selection underway

The party’s Central Election Committee is currently meeting to finalise candidates. Sources indicate that approvals for most constituencies are expected soon, and the BJP may release its complete list of candidates within the next two days.

Ticket distribution remains a crucial exercise, with internal discussions highlighting its potential impact on local political dynamics. Party leaders have also touched upon the proposed delimitation exercise scheduled for 2027, which is expected to have long-term implications for Assam’s electoral landscape.