Mangaluru : After 30 hours of massive search operation by multiple teams, the body of Café Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha was recovered from Nethravathi river near Mangaluru early on Wednesday, confirmed Mangaluru city police.

The body was shifted to Wenlock Hospital where a post-mortem will be conducted.

“The body was found floating near Hoige Bazar at around 6.30am. The next process will go as per law and family members have been informed,” Mangaluru police commissioner (city) Sandeep Patil said.

Siddhartha, the founder of country’s largest coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day and son-in-law of former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna, was missing since Monday evening.

The 60-year-old coffee baron had arrived at 6pm from Bengaluru in his SUV on Monday and had asked the driver to drive towards the Nethravathi bridge.

He was last seen near the bridge. It is suspected that he committed suicide by jumping off the bridge.
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Acting on the complaint from Basavaraj Patil, Siddhartha’s driver, local authorities swung into action and launched a massive search and rescue (SAR) operation.

Siddhartha’s body will be taken to Chikkamagaluru after post-mortem where his last rites will be performed.

Following the death of the coffee chain founder, all Café Coffee Day outlets across the country will remain shut on Wednesday.

VG Siddhartha’s last rites to be performed in Chikkamagaluru by 1.30