BENGALURU: VG Siddhartha, the founder of Cafe Coffee Day, went missing late Monday evening from the bridge on the Netravathi in Kotepura in Dakshina Kannada district, after he asked his driver Basavaraj Patil to head towards Mangaluru instead of Mudigere, where he was initially planning to go.
Siddhartha reportedly asked Patil to stop the car and park it after the bridge. He came out of the black Innova (KA-03-NC-2592) and walked towards the bridge. Patil sensed trouble when Siddhartha didn’t return even after an hour, and when he tried to call him, his mobile was switched off.
“Patil then called Siddhartha’s eldest son, who also tried to call his father. The driver later approached the police and lodged a missing complaint,” said an official source. Police have detained Patil for questioning. Patil told police that all through the drive from Bengaluru, Siddhartha was speaking on his mobile about his business and bank-related issues, and sounded very stressed.
Also read: The hunt for the missing VG Siddhartha: What we know so far
Official sources told TNIE that they are investigating every possible angle. “Prima facie, it looks like suicide but police cannot rule out any foul play because only his driver was present at the time of the crime. He told the police that he last saw Siddhartha at 8.30pm on the bridge. The marks on the bridge are being forensically examined. They may tell the story. Siddhartha left Bengaluru around 12.30 pm on Monday. His call details records are being examined by the police,” said the source.
The dog squad stopped midway at the bridge, indicating that Siddhartha was last seen there. According to official sources, the fall from that point of the bridge into the river is estimated to be 15-20 feet. “The Nethravati is in spate because of the monsoon. At this point, the river is 20-30 ft deep. There is no marine vegetation in the river till its fall downstream into the Arabian Sea, which is 2km from the alleged crime spot.
If Siddhartha did jump into the river, chances of his survival are abysmal, given the depth and flow of the water. It may also be difficult to spot or recover the body if it flowed downstream into the sea. The body will come afloat when it swells up, or is sighted if it is stuck in some vegetation or a rocky corner in the river,” said an official source. The teams hope to find Siddhartha by Wednesday morning, and plan to deploy sonar equipment to detect any object on the sea bed. A source said that cameras have not been of much use as the flowing water is full of silt.
Night patrol
Through the night, watch will be kept in the river. Special searchlight will be used. And police deployed on the right and left bank of the river to check for activity in the night