Police are searching for the owner of a coffee chain in India after the billionaire went missing while walking across a bridge. He reportedly apologized to stockholders for betraying their trust shortly before his disappearance.
FILE PHOTOS (L) V.G. Siddhartha, chairman of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd © AFP / SAM PANTHAKY; (R) Karnataka police © AFP / Manjunath Kiran
V.G. Siddhartha, the owner of the popular Cafe Coffee Day chain (India's rival of Starbucks), was last seen on Monday night walking across a bridge in the southern state of Karnataka. Siddhartha had ordered his chauffeur to stop near the bridge, then exited the vehicle while talking on his cellphone. The driver contacted police after his employer failed to return.
The owner of Asia’s biggest coffee plantation, Siddhartha had recently come under scrutiny after tax authorities launched raids on his company in 2017.
According to media reports, he sent a letter to company shareholders on Monday which stated that he was “very sorry to let down all the people that put their trust in me.”
Police and local fishermen searched the river below the bridge, suggesting that authorities may suspect suicide.