As search operations are underway to find VG Siddhartha, the owner-founder of the Café Coffee Day chain and the son-in-law of BJP leader SM Krishna, who went missing in Mangaluru, leaders cutting across party lines visited Krishna's residence to offer support. Former Water Resources Minister and Congress leader DK Shivakumar, who paid a visit to SM Krishna on Tuesday, says he suspects that Siddhartha may have been abducted.
“The current suspicion is that he may be in the water but my suspicion is that that someone has taken him away. I have a doubt that there could be deeper reasons for this. Whatever it may be, the investigation will reveal. He called me on July 28 and told me he wanted to meet me. I told him I would meet him the next day or the day after that. But now I have received this information that he is missing. He is a man with a big heart, who gave jobs to over 50,000 people of the state,” DK Shivakumar said.
DK Shivakumar who also lives near SM Krishna tweeted that he has known the family for decades and that he finds the disappearance fishy.
Siddhartha went missing on Monday night near the Nethravathi river in Mangaluru. According to police sources, Siddhartha left Bengaluru informing his family that he was going to Sakleshpur in Hassan district. However, once he left home, he allegedly told his driver to head towards Mangaluru. When they reached the Nethravati Bridge, he was on a call and informed his driver that he is going to take a walk and would be back. Over an hour after he left, his driver got worried and called his cellphone multiple times but it was switched off. Thereafter, his driver, informed Siddhartha’s family and the police.
One hundred and fifty rescue personnel including firefighters, divers, coast guards, fishermen and State Disaster Response Force and boats have been deployed to look for Siddhartha in the Netravathi River.
Indian Coast Guard has deployed its assets ICGS Rajdoot (tasked to patrol off old Mangalore Port and maintaining sharp lookout very close to harbour mouth), Air Cushion Vehicle (Hovercraft) (undertaking search in Nethrvathi River and providing support to cg diving teams), three CG Diving Teams along with District Disaster Relief Team has been deputed to carry out search for missing person and ICGS Savitribai Phule kept standby for deploying off old Mangalore port at short notice.